Brotherly bonds
by Kamechan98
Summary: Raphael is the son of Oroku Saki, one of the richest men in America and is not good at making friends. His only real friend is his little brother Donatello. But that might change once he starts at a new school. *DISCONTINUED*
1. Chapter 1, Welcome home baby brother

Brotherly bonds

**A/N: Another story? Yeah, I know but I had this idea that wouldn't leave my head and I don't think that this story will be as eventful as my other stories. Mostly a story about two brothers and their friends and their lives in school. Some conflict, but not most of the time.**

**Now I should probably mention that I got some inspiration from a story called 'New Life' written by Bayluff and you should totally check it out, it's awesome! So, thanks for writing such a great story Bayfluff! Though I made some changes with my story, but still. This chapter is more of a prologue but the rest of the story will have more of a plot, if I chose to continue this story.**

**Hope you enjoy the story and please review, favorite and follow!**

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Chapter 1, Welcome home baby brother

My name is Raphael. I'm five years old and I live in a big penthouse with a great view over New York and as many toys as I could ask for. I'm also the only son to Oroku Saki, owner of Saki Industries and one of the richest self-employed men in America. Or at least, I used to be. That was until my mom, Tang Shen -and the best mother in the whole world and the kindest person I knew- came home from the hospital one day and told us that she was pregnant. Dad seemed to be pretty pleased about it and had given her a kiss right in front of me, even though they both knew I hated it when they did it when they did that.

I can't say that I was too happy about the idea. I was four when she told me that and it was September when she found out about it, so it meant that I wouldn't have to worry about a new sibling until the early summer, which I was somewhat happy about, but I was still angry and I wasn't exactly quiet about it. I wouldn't stop screaming and yelling and even started to throw plates at the wall, but then my dad slapped me across the face and sent me to my room. I had a hard time keeping my anger in check and both my mom and dad had tried to 'help' me in their own ways, but nothing ever seemed to work. I had just stomped over to my room and locked myself away in my room and stayed there for the rest of the day.

Mom tried to talk to me and said that maybe having a baby brother or sister would be exciting and fun, and maybe it would be cool to have someone who looked up to me and would look to me for answers. But I just shook my head stubbornly and crossed my arms over my chest. I had decided that the baby was nothing but bad news and I wasn't about to change my mind.

"No way! This kid is just gonna steal all the attention and Dad will forget all about me! I never asked for a little brother or sister, so why should I have to deal with one now?" Mom just shook her head at me and walked out of the room with her hand on her swollen stomach. She thought I was hopeless, I just knew she did, and thus gave up trying to reason with me. I groaned and started to play with a big red plastic dinosaur doll to get my mind off things.

I should probably say that my dad was a little bit aggressive sometimes. Most of the time he'd be at his office and work all the time, but when he was home he could be really nasty if things didn't go as he wanted them to. For example, he would yell, threaten and even hit me if I didn't do what he told me to. My mom tried to talk to him and I heard her threaten to call the police once, but that never happened. Because of this, I wasn't allowed to have any friends or go to kindergarten, since he thought that playing with other kids was a waste of time. With that being said, I wasn't that interested in having any friends.

As the months passed by and winter turned to spring and spring slowly turned to summer, I turned five years old in the middle of March and I got more and more upset about the baby. Mom had spent a bit of time painting the baby's room and had bought things like a crib made of dark brown wood, some toys, baby food and diapers. She had asked me what I thought would be a good color for the room's walls and while I despised the idea of a baby, I still liked that she asked me what I thought. I looked over the colors she had chosen and thought of it. Baby blue, olive green, galaxy purple and light yellow. I thought for a while and then said either purple or green. My mom then decided to buy a thick wall-to-wall carpet in an olive green shade and painted the walls purple, with my help, since she couldn't get everywhere with her big stomach.

Dad did little to nothing to prepare the baby's arrival, so I was a bit happy with the fact that I helped more than he did to prepare to house. Even though I still didn't like the idea of the baby.

And then, in the early days of June, my mom went into labor and Dad drove her to the hospital and called a babysitter for me. Her name was Veronica, she was sixteen years old, and she barely paid any attention to me. She just sat and read a thick book and every now and then she wrote something down in a notebook. She said that she was studying for an exam, but I didn't really know what that meant. I spent most of the time playing with my favorite toy, a stuffed turtle that mom had bought me for my second birthday.

A few hours later my parents came home, sending Veronica home, and Mom showed me my new baby brother, Donatello. My first thought was that he was small. Very small. His head was covered with thin, dark brown hair and he was currently sleeping. He wore a small white and blue striped hat, with the word 'hello' stitched over the forehead area.

"Isn't he cute?" She said with a smile, but I wrinkled my nose and said he looked kinda ugly. My father scolded me and sent me to my room for being rude and said I couldn't come out until I asked for forgiveness, but I was too stubborn to admit that I had lied to my parents. I had thought that he looked kinda cute, but I wasn't about to think that having a little brother was a good idea just because he was cute.

The next four months I did everything I could think of to avoid my baby brother. At dinner I would stare down at my plate and avoid looking up at all costs; except when I had to, of course. When the baby started to scream in the middle of the night, since the baby's room was very close to my room, I would wake up and wait for my mom or dad to get him. But one night, at around four in the morning, Donatello started to scream and I waited for about five minutes… but no one got up to take care of him. With a heavy groan I stood up and walked into my brother's room.

I was kinda happy that the floor was covered with a thick, soft carpet. It felt really nice against my bare feet as I walked up to the crib with the screaming little devil and I looked down on him with a scowl. There he lied in his dark purple baby pyjamas, looking like a little doll with big eyes and soft dark hair. I leaned my face over his and glared down at him.

"Could you just shut up? I'm trying to sleep here!" I said as loudly as I dared without waking anyone. The baby looked up at me with big, brown eyes and sniffled at me. I rolled my eyes, and with stiff arms and unwilling eyes I picked him up as carefully as I could and sat down in the rocking chair that mom had bought for when she had to feed him or get him to sleep. Donatello squirmed slightly in my arms and then he looked up at me with wide eyes. He giggled slightly at reached up his hands towards my face and tried to grab my hair, cheeks and nose.

I felt my heart soften as I looked at the small baby in my arms and I couldn't fight the smile that spread over my face. Suddenly I didn't see a monster that had come to ruin my life. I saw a small baby that just tried to live and didn't understand what was going on around him. I gently lowered my face towards him, letting him pat his hands over it. I couldn't help but laugh when he did and he managed to grab onto my black hair and tug lightly on it, though it didn't hurt that much.

"Hi, Donnie. My name's Raphael, and I'm your big brother." Donnie just laughed at me again and grabbed my nose with an innocent grin. I chuckled lightly and hugged him closer to me. That was when the door opened slightly and someone entered with slow and tired steps, but I was too busy cuddling with my baby brother to notice. A small gasp was heard and I looked at the door. My mom stood there, her dark hair was a tousled mess and one of the sleeves on the t-shirt she slept in, that was a few sizes too big, was hanging from her shoulder.

"Raph? I didn't think you..." She trailed off as a yawn interrupted her and I could see the circles under her eyes. I smiled and hugged my brother close to me again, making him squeal lightly and bury his face into my shoulder.

"You can go back to bed, Mom. I've got him." She smiled gratefully at me and kissed me on the forehead before she left the room and softly closed the door behind her. I turned back to Donnie, who had started to yawn and as his eyes started to close he once again nuzzled his face close to me and slowly fell asleep. I smiled lightly at him and carefully laid him back down in the crib and tucked the covers around him to keep him warm.

I got an idea and quietly ran back into my room. I picked up my stuffed turtle toy and ran back to Donnie. Gently, I put the turtle next to the boy in the crib and even if it was a bit too big from him to play with, I thought it would be a good peace offering between us, even if he didn't understand why I hadn't liked to be around him. I leaned down and rubbed his head with my nose. After a moment I snuck back into my room and went to sleep.

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From that day on I spent as much time as I could with my brother. Both my mom and dad were surprised to see that I had changed my mind about the baby, but Mom seemed really happy about it and showed me how to feed him, change him, play with him and put him to bed. She did most of the work with him, like change his diapers, dress him and feed him. But as both he and I got bigger and older I began to do more and more to help mom with taking care of him. Dad had managed to coax Mom into start working again, saying that Donnie was in good hands and that she didn't have to worry. I had learned to make breakfast for myself since mom had to work, and she stored leftovers or made lunch the day before so I wouldn't starve and she also had baby food ready for Donnie to eat when he got hungry that was easy to heat up. I felt really grown up now that I was home alone, taking care of my brother.

I didn't understand it myself how my mind had changed so quickly about Donnie. One day I had hated him and then, by just holding him and letting him touch my face, he had managed to warm up my heart and make me want to be with him as much as I could. Dad didn't seem to care much about Donnie, so I decided to make sure he at least had some kind of male role model in his life, even if I was just a kid myself.

Donnie was growing quickly and he seemed to be smarter than most of the kids his age, or at least that's what my mother said (and she had worked with children for a long time, since she was a teacher at an elementary school). We would play everyday and Donnie loved it when I was around. The small, stuffed turtle I had given him that had once been my favorite toy was now his favorite toy, and I had no problem with giving it up. I had so many other toys and I didn't really miss the turtle since I still got to play with it sometimes when I played with Donnie.

One day, while I was sitting in Donnie's room and playing with colored blocks with him, he looked up from the green block in his hand and at me with wide, curious brown eyes, then smiled at me.

"What is it, Donnie?" I smiled at him and ruffled his now chocolate brown hair with a teasing look in my green eyes; he squealed in delight and tried to swat my hand away from his hair. His laughter was contagious; it was impossible not to laugh when he was laughing. But what he did next made me stop laughing at once.

"Waphie." I stared at him and leaned down, looking him in the eyes. He jumped back a little when I got so close to his face, but he still smiled, though not as brightly.

"What did you say? Can you say that again, Donnie?" He smiled and slammed his block down into the carpet several times in happiness.

"Waphie! Waphie!" I felt tears of happiness form in my eyes and I grabbed him, stood up and hugged him close while spinning him around in a circle as the both of us laughed. Well, I laughed, while Donnie sounded like he shrieked more than laughed, but he sounded happy nonetheless. I was beyond happy, my little brother's first word was my name. Sure, it wasn't my full name and his nickname for me sounded a bit silly, but still. Besides, he was just nine months old. I was about to put him down again, go get my mom and tell her about Donnie's first word, but then I remembered she was working. And dad was never home anymore so of course he wouldn't know. I had heard that most kids' first words were 'mom' or 'dad', but my brother's first word was my name.

I sat down in the rocking chair and hugged Donnie tightly to me, buried my face into his hair and tried to suppress my tears. Our mother wasn't here to hear her youngest son's first word, and our dad couldn't care less about either of us or mom for that matter. And for some reason that made me so angry that I felt tears form in my eyes, even though I couldn't understand why. Donnie squirmed lightly, put both his hands on my chest and tried to push himself away from my chest, but I didn't let him.

"Waphie!" I heard him whine and again he tried to squirm away from me, but I just hugged him tighter and whispered softly into his hair, while trying so hard not to cry.

"We're gonna be okay, Donnie. Whatever happens to us, I'll always be there for you, even when Mom and Dad aren't. I'll never leave you, ever. I promise" Donnie stopped trying to fight back and just relaxed in my grip. He wrapped his small arms around my neck and snuggled his face into the crook of my neck. After a few minutes I pulled Donnie out of the hug and placed him on my lap, letting him lean his head against my side as he closed his eyes with a sigh of contentment. I smiled down at my brother and softly rubbed my hand over his head.

A soft rumbling sound made me snap out of my relaxed state and I looked down at Donnie, who sat up straight and looked down; he placed his hand over his tummy, looked up at me with such innocent and hopeful eyes, and even a small smile. I grinned at him and poked him in his tummy with my forefinger, making him squirm a little and giggle softly.

"You hungry?" Donnie just smiled innocently and nodded. He had started to understand certain words and he knew what 'hungry' meant by now. I placed my hands around his waist, lifted him up and placed him on my shoulders. I felt him grab onto my hair to keep himself from falling down and I trotted away with him, out of the room and into the kitchen to give him some food.

* * *

I looked around in my room, under my desk; and then I stood up straight and looked around the room again, trying to spot my three-year old brother, who had hid himself somewhere in the apartment. We lived in one of the biggest penthouses here in New York so it was easy for a little kid like him to find a good hiding place.

Mom was working late tonight, which meant that I had to put Donnie to bed- which was easier said than done. Donnie would always try to hide when it was time for bed, and that meant that it was a pain to find him, prepare him for bed and then make him _stay_ there.

"Where are you, you little rascal? It's time for bed, bro!" I heard a faint snicker from outside the room and I figured that he was somewhere out in the living room. I sneaked out into the big room and looked around for a good place Donnie would hide, and somewhere he also hadn't already used as a hiding place. He never used one hiding place twice, since he knew that I would keep track of all his hiding places.

I saw something dark blue stick out from under the couch and recognised it as denim. I grinned and quietly got down to my knees, reached in under the couch and then, with a quick yank, I pulled Donnie out from under the couch and held him by the ankles, letting him dangle upside down in my grip, while he laughed and shrieked at me. I laughed too and then threw him onto the couch, sat down over his legs and pinned him down into the pillows.

"Nice try, you little troublemaker. But today _I _am babysitting you, so you can't hide from me like you can from Mom, got it?" He giggled and tried to get away from me, even though he knew that I was five years older, much bigger and stronger than him and that resistance was futile. I grinned and started tickling his neck, making him squeal and laugh as he tried to push my hands away from him, but he was not strong enough to do so.

After a few minutes of tickle torture, I stopped tickling him and he sat up and tried to run away from me, but this time I was prepared and I managed to grab him around the waist and hold him close to my chest, trapping him in my tight grip.

"And where do you think you're going? Why are you in such a hurry?" Donnie giggled and kicked his legs and pushed on my arms, trying to get away.

"Raphie! Let go!" I shook my head and held him even tighter, without hurting him, and carried him over to the bathroom, placed him on the toilet and locked the door behind us so he couldn't run away again. But Donnie seemed to have decided to cooperate now and sat still on the toilet and watched me prepare a bath for him. Donnie would always make a fuss about going to bed, but he loved to bathe.

When I turned to Donnie after the bathtub was filled with water with a good enough temperature, I saw that he had started to try and remove his Kermit the Frog t-shirt, but I also noticed that he had a bit of trouble with it, so I knelt down beside him and gently pulled off his shirt and then proceeded to help him with his jeans and his socks, and he let me do that without resistance.

After a quick bath, Donnie let me brush his teeth and dress him in his pyjamas- a purple jacket with matching pants- and then he let me carry him to his room and tuck him into bed. He snuggled himself into the pillow and under the warm covers with a small sigh. Donnie then looked up at me and tried to look a little extra cute, if that was even possible.

"Raphie, can you read me a story?" I had already known he was going to ask. He asked me that every night, even if he had heard every story about twenty times over and rarely got anything new, since Dad was against wasting money on 'such trivial items' such as children's books or toys and said that Donnie just had to be pleased with the books he had. But every now and then after school, I would go and buy him a new book or a toy or something else for him without Dad ever knowing; Mom never said anything to him about it either. So I just smiled at him and said what I always said after he asked that question.

"Sure I can. But only if you promise to go to sleep afterwards." Donnie nodded eagerly and sat up. I walked over to my school bag and pulled out a new book that I had bought him today and came over to sit beside him on the bed. The only light was the small, red rocket-shaped lamp on the nightstand that gave the room enough light for me to see the words and for Donnie to see the pictures in the book. Donnie crawled in under my arm and leaned against my side, looking curiously at the new book. He had already learned to read a little, but only simple words, so he couldn't read the title. 'The Cat in the Hat', a Dr. Seuss book that I had heard once when I was a kid. I was at the hospital with my Mom at the time, but we didn't own it, obviously. I opened the book and started to read, as softly and gently as I could, so Donnie would fall asleep faster.

"The sun did not shine. It was too wet to play. So we sat in the house all that cold, cold, wet day. I sat there with Sally, we sat there, we two. And I said, 'how I wish we had something to do!'" As I read the book, I saw from the corner of my eye that Donnie's eyes began to fall more and more, but he tried so hard to stay awake and hear the whole story. It was kinda humorous to see him try so strenuously to stay awake.

…"And Sally and I did not know what to say. Should we tell her the things that went on there that day? Should we tell her about it? Now, what should we do? Well... what would you do if your mother asked you?" I closed the book and I saw that Donnie was barely awake; he yawned widely and rubbed his eyes wildly, trying to stay conscious. I chuckled and placed the book in the bookshelf beside the bed and kneeled down beside him, pushed him down on his pillow and tucked him in again.

"Okay, tough guy, time to sleep." Donnie nodded and snuggled his face into his pillow. He fell asleep almost instantly.

I smiled at him and kissed him lightly on the forehead. He looked so small and innocent now as he slept, and I still couldn't believe that I had been so bent on hating this kid. Now I loved him more than my own dad.

I turned off the light and walked out of the room as quietly as I could, closing the door softly behind me.

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"Raph?" I was lying on my bed, reading a math book, trying to study for a test that was coming up, when I heard the small voice. I looked up from my book and at the door. My six-year old little brother stood there in his pyjamas and had his stuffed turtle in a tight grip. I put down the textbook on the nightstand and sat up in my bed. I was also ready to go to sleep, and was surprised to see that Donnie was still awake.

"What is it, Donnie? Nightmares?" He shook his head and looked down the corridor that led our parents' bedroom. And now I could hear screams from both our mom and dad and I realized what was wrong.

"Mommy and Daddy are fighting again." Donnie said and looked at me with tears in his eyes. "Can I sleep with you tonight?" He sounded shy and a little embarrassed even though I had told him over and over that he didn't have to be scared about asking these sorts of things. I smiled and moved over a little in my bed and patted the mattress beside me.

"Come here, bro. You know you're always welcome in here." He smiled through his tears, ran over to my bed and crawled in under the covers. I wrapped my arm around his shoulders and I felt him nuzzle his face in my shoulder and something wet trailed down my skin. It didn't take a genius to understand that Donnie was crying.

"Hey, come on, there's no need to cry. I know you don't like it when Mom and Dad fight, but you they'll make it work by tomorrow, right? And I'm here for you until then. You know that, right?" I felt Donnie nod into my shoulder, but I still felt his tears on my skin and how he shook when he sobbed. I placed my cheek on the top of his head and hugged him closer to me, letting him cry out his fear and sadness without trying to stop him since I knew that this was what he needed right now. After a few minutes his sobbing subsided and he looked up at me with his wide puppy eyes.

"Raph? Do you think _we'll_ ever fight like Mommy and Daddy do now?" I looked down at him and smiled consolingly at him, drying his eyes with my thumb and stroking his hair as gently as I could.

"Well, I can't promise that we won't fight, Donnie. We are brothers and we won't always get along perfectly, and we will disagree about things, and we will argue too. But I _can_ promise that we're _not_ gonna fight like Mom and Dad do, because they have a hard time getting along in general, but we get along really well, don't we?" Donnie nodded into my shoulder and buried his face into my chest and shoulder again, making himself comfortable. I also felt a tad sleepy, but just as I was about to close my eyes, I heard Donnie whisper in my ear.

"Raph?" I looked down at Donnie, who looked like he was asleep; I assumed he was still awake since he had said my name.

"Yeah, what is it, Donnie?" He looked up at me again, smiled at me before he placed his head back on my shoulder and closed his eyes again.

"I love you, big brother." I smiled widely at my baby brother and hugged him close to me, kissed his forehead and pulled the covers over us both, laying my head on the pillow to go to sleep like my brother.

"I love you too, baby brother."

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**A/N: Done! I'm sorry if Raph is a bit out of character here, but the rest of the story I will try to give on specific personality, but I'm not so sure if I will continue this story so please tell me what you think. Should I continue the story or is this just great as a one-shot story?**

**Hope you liked this chapter and please review, favorite and follow! G'night everybody!**


	2. Chapter 2, First day of school

Brotherly bonds

**A/N: New update! Thank you all for the your reviews and I hope you like the rest of the story! And just so you know, I changed Raph's and Donnie's age so Donnie wouldn't seem too much like a little kid, especially since Mikey appeared here too. So Raph is now _five_ years older than Donnie instead of six, small difference but still thought I should say it.**

**And just so you know, I have absolutely no idea how schools in the U.S work so I hope you can cut me some slack if I get things wrong. And I would be grateful if you could give me some info about how school ****works in U.S.A, so if you know things, please tell me.**

**Hope you'll enjoy the chapter and please review, favorite and follow! **

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Chapter 2, First day of school

(Raph's P.O.V)

"Raphael, honey! You have to get up, you'll be late for school!" I groaned in protest as my mom called from the kitchen and I forced myself to sit up in my bed, stretching my back and arms to wake them up. Mondays, how I hated mondays. And to make things worse, it was first day in a new school, since my last school had kicked me out after a fight that had gone to too far. Let's just say that I may have broken a few more bones than was necessary. New teachers, new classmates and new everything. I knew that most of the people at that school would hate me even after one day, but I couldn't care less. I wasn't looking for friends or good grades, I just wanted to get out of high school as quickly as possible.

"Okay, okay! I'm up mom!" I dragged myself out of bed and walked up to my closet, pulled out a pair of ripped, dark blue jeans, a red tank top, my black leather jacket and my sneakers. I took a glance in the mirror and saw that my spiky, red-dyed hair was a mess of spikes that stuck out in every direction possible. I groaned and quickly combed through my hair and then left the room and walked towards the kitchen.

My mom was standing at the stove frying eggs and bacon, dressed in her yellow blouse and a blue jeans skirt and her dark hair was tied into a ponytail, and my little brother Donnie was already sitting at the table eating breakfast (though still in his pyjamas) and reading in a book at the same time. He looked up from his book when I came in through the door and smiled at me.

"Good morning Raph! Slept well?" I smiled lightly at him and ruffled his chocolate brown hair before I sat down in front of him. Don was pretty much the only friend I had, since I found it hard to get along with other boys and girls my age. And Donnie was eleven years old, while I was sixteen and I thought it was a little strange that I got better along better with a kid a bit more than half my age. Still, my little brother meant everything to me and I didn't mind that he was so much younger than me, cause I still loved him.

"Yeah, I'm good, just a bit tired. How about you? Ready to start 7th grade?" If Donnie had had the average intellect of a eleven-year old he would've started 6th grade, but his teachers had been so impressed by his progress in 5th grade they had placed him in 7th grade instead of 6th the following year. He was really smart for a kid his age. And I mean, really smart. Donnie nodded with a wide smile as he chewed on some bacon.

"Yeah!" He said once he had swallowed down the food. "I'm super excited! Just a little bit nervous. I'll be around kids that are much older than me too. It's a bit scary." I smiled reassuringly at him. I could understand why he was scared, we had gone to same school until I started high school, and even then it both schools had been really close to each other so if something happened I would be near by. But now I had to go to a different school a few bus stations from Donnie's school, so I wouldn't be there to greet him immediately after school or if something had happened to him. I reached my hand out to push down his book, making him look up at me.

"Don't worry bro, I'll still be there when the school day is over, you know that. And you'll have April too. You're going to be fine, I know it." Donnie still looked a bit nervous, but smiled none the less. Mom came over to us and placed a plate of egg and bacon in front of me, poured up a glass with orange juice and stroke my hair back before placing a kiss on my head, which in turn made me squirm a little.

"Mom..." She laughed softly at me and then started to dish the frying pan. She turned to look at me over her shoulder while dishing and she tried to smile, but I saw she had something on her mind.

"Raph? I have a meeting after work with my boss and my coworkers and after that I have a few things I have to do. Do you think that you two will be fine for a few hours alone?" She knew that I could take care of both myself and Donnie perfectly well since I had to learn to cook simple meals when I was nine and I had learned enough about both my mom and dad to know that they would be home late pretty much every night of the week, and it wasn't always because of their work. But I also knew I should talk about it much, because mom would get so sad whenever I tried to bring it up. So I smiled, nodded and tried to look convincing.

"Sure, we'll manage. We'll have a nice night together, the two of us, right Don?" Donnie nodded as he swallowed down the last bites of eggs on his plate and stood up, placed the dishes in the dishwasher.

"Yeah, we'll be fine mom, don't worry about us." He smiled and made his way towards the bathroom with his book under his arm. But I had managed to see that he was a bit disappointed, like he always was when he heard that mom would come home late. With dad on the other hand, things were different. Donnie both loathed and feared our father with passion and he was glad that he wasn't home very often. Especially since he had managed to figure out that he sometimes hit our mother.

I ate up my breakfast as quickly as I could, put away my dishes and followed Donnie to the bathroom and closed the door after me.

Donnie stood there and brushed his teeth absentmindedly while looking himself in the eyes in the mirror. I smiled lightly, though only with my mouth, and placed my arm around his shoulders, making him flinch a little and looked up from his thoughts.

"You okay bro?" He looked away from the mirror and down at the floor. He placed the toothbrush back in the mug where all the toothbrushes rested on the sink and just sighed.

"I don't know. I just," He sighed again. "I guess I just wish that mom was home a bit more. I don't care much for dad, but mom is never home, and I really wish she was." I sighed and hugged Donnie closer to me and placed my face against his. Donnie still didn't look up from the floor, but he did lean into my embrace a little bit.

"Yeah, I know you don't like it, but honestly I thought you would've gotten used to it by now. It's been like this since we were kids. I'm not saying it's okay that they do this, but still, why are still letting this bother you so much?" Donnie shrugged and looked out the small window, that only really showed the blue sky.

"I don't know. I suppose that I would want more acknowledgement from her so I can feel more sure of the fact that she really loves us. While I get the feeling that she cares about us, but not enough of it to feel like she loves us." I nodded. I knew what he meant, Donnie wasn't the only one feeling that way. Mom did make sure we had food, clothes and everything we needed. She even tried to celebrate our birthdays with cake, presents and everything else, but even then she couldn't always be there. I moved my arm from Donnie's shoulders to around his back and hugged him close to me. And this time I felt Donnie react a bit more by he put his arms around me and bury his face in my shoulder. I answered his actions by putting one of my hands on the back of his head and stroke his shoulder-long hair.

"I know it's not fair, but whatever happens to us, I'll always be there for you, even when Mom and Dad aren't. Like I said when we were kids, We're gonna be okay. I'll never leave you, ever. You know that, don't you?" I felt Donnie nod into my shoulder and his hold on me tightened a little. I tightened my hold a little before I let him go again and pushed him towards the door.

"Good, now go and get dressed. I don't think the teachers will let you into the school with your pyjamas." Donnie stuck his tongue out at me, though with slightly happier eyes and ran out of the bathroom. I turned to the mirror, grabbed my toothbrush out of the cup and squirted out some toothpaste on it.

"Donnie, hurry up! We have to go now!" I stood in the hall, with my school bag thrown over my shoulder, tapping with my foot impatiently. Donnie came running out of his room and towards the hall while also trying to put on his low, black converse. He was dressed in blue jeans, a black t-shirt and a purple elbow-sleeved shirt. On his arms, he had wrapped leather bands that ended about halfway to his elbows. He smiled sheepishly at me after he had managed to get his shoe on and placed the strap of his duffle bag over his shoulder and walked up to me.

"Okay, I'm done! We can go now!" I shook my head with a small smile and opened the door. Mom had already gone to work, since she worked in a school across town and we had to go to school ourselves. Donnie's school was only a few blocks away from our apartment, but mine was about half a mile away from home so we had to hurry. Fortunately my dad had bought me a motorcycle when I turned sixteen, so we would get there in time, without coming in the nick of time. Say what you will about my dad, but he can be somewhat generous about his gifts.

"Hurry! Dad will kill me if I'm late on my first day!" I threw Donnie's helmet at him, not really checking if he caught it and jumped onto the the bike and turned on the engine. I felt Donnie wrap his arms around my waist firmly, since he knew I liked to drive fast. I put on my own helmet and drove down the street as fast as I could without going over the speed limits. Heaven knows I don't need the police after me now.

After about five minutes of driving we arrived at Donnie's school about ten minutes before the bell rang. Donnie jumped off so quickly he almost tripped over his own feet and put his helmet down in his bag before ran towards the building. I managed to grab his arm before he got very far and pulled him close to me again.

"Donnie, calm down. You're not late yet. You'll make it in time, you don't have to rush." Donnie nodded lightly and then, in a quick motion, he hugged me around the neck before he ran off again. Though he waved at me and smiled over his shoulder before he ran inside.

"Goodbye, Raph! See you after school!" I smiled, shook my head and continued to drive down the street towards my school.

Roosevelt High School wasn't exactly anything special or new. It looked just like any other school I had seen in the city. It was a red brick building with big windows and it looked pretty modern. Lockers with a nice green colour, the walls looked like they were newly painted and the floors, halls and the classrooms looked both clean and the equipment looked rather new. All in all, I wasn't that impressed. Sure it looked nice, but I had lived in a nicely cleaned and modern home all my life so I have to say it was boring to see that it looked so nice. I mean, was it so wrong to ask for a few dirty spots, maybe some clutter or graffiti on the school walls? Probably, but still.

I made my way down the hallway and looked at the paper in my hand. Room 114, english class with Mr. Andersen. I had no idea where to go and the lesson was starting in about five minutes. A smart person would ask someone else where to go instead of running around like a chicken with its head cut off, but I was both too stubborn and proud to ask anyone for help. But I just didn't know where to go. I looked down at the paper and tried to think of something to do, but I couldn't think of anything.

"Are you new?" I looked up and saw a girl with her long, thick, curly brown hair tied together in a ponytail with a pink bow, a pink blouse with a elastic band around the waist, skinny light blue jeans and light pink ballerina shoes with small bows on. I was at loss of words, partly because I didn't want to admit I didn't know the way, and partly because she was kinda pretty. But I managed to nod and she looked at my paper and smiled at me.

"Well good for you that I ran into me, cause your in my class. I can show you around if you want." I thought about it. It went against both my pride and how I had been raised to let anyone help me. I had learned to handle myself pretty much on my own since I was six. But then again, maybe I had to swallow my pride this once and accept the help I got. After all, I didn't want to run around this building every time I had to go the next lesson. I sighed and tried to smile.

"Sure, that would be nice." She smiled at me and her green eyes seemed to sparkle in the light of the lamps above us. I had to shake my head slightly so I wouldn't lose track of what was going on around me. She reached out her hand for me to shake.

"My name is Mona Lisa Woods." I took her hand and shook it.

"Raphael." I was hesitant towards saying my last name, since I knew that most people in America (and beyond) knew about my dad and what he did and who he was. It wasn't exactly something I was proud of since I knew that some people wanted to get to know me because of him. And I hated that. Mona Lisa tilted her head to the side and lost her smile.

"Only Raphael?" I looked away from her and she seemed to understand. Instead of asking me more she grabbed my arm and led me down the hallway and to the right. She stopped at the second door on the right.

"Here is our english class room. Do you think you can find it from now on?" I nodded. I was good at finding places after being at the place just once or twice. Mona Lisa walked in and I followed her, but I let her walk ahead of me a bit so it wouldn't look as though I was following her. At the black-board was a man who looked like he was in his late forties, had glasses and was dressed in a light brown checkered costume jacket, a white shirt, red necktie, brown pants and his hair was brown and slightly grey. He smiled at me and waved me over.

"Hello. Are you our new student..." He looked down in his papers. "Raphael Saki?" I nodded and bit my lip. I really didn't like to hear 'Saki' after my name. He gestured towards a desk on the third row beside a boy with neatly combed dark hair and a blue dress skirt and black jeans.

"You can sit over there for now. Leonardo is one of our best students and is very well-behaved. He'll make you feel welcome here." For some reason when I looked at this, 'Leonardo' I saw one of those perfectionists or perfect kids that did everything right, the kind of son my dad would want as his 'heir the throne' so to speak. And I wasn't very fond of those people. But I sat down beside him and put my bag at my feet. Leonardo looked at me and smiled, and I chose to answer that with a nonchalant shrug and looked away from him. Mona Lisa was sitting in the front row and had her notebook in front of her and with a pen in her hand, ready to take note. My mind wandered to Donnie. How was he doing at his school?

* * *

(Donnie's P.O.V)

I ran into the building and towards my class room. I had studied my schedule carefully before I went to school today so I knew where to go, french class with Mrs. Honey. Even though I had five minutes to spare before class started, I'd rather be too early than late for class. Suddenly I ran into someone and fell to the floor. My bag fell to the floor and I saw a few papers flying around before they landed on the floor too. I looked up and saw that a boy with blonde hair who might be a bit younger than me sat in front of me and rubbed his head. I quickly got to my feet and gathered up some of the papers.

"Oh my gosh, I am so sorry. I didn't see you there, I'm sorry." The boy got up and gathered up some papers too and he smiled at me, even though I had just ran into him and made him fall to the floor.

"It's okay dude. I'm fine." Once all the papers were gathered up, it wasn't that much, I handed it over to the boy.

"Here, let me help you with that." The boy looked a bit shocked, but kept on smiling anyway and took the papers.

"Thanks dude." Now I got a better look of him, he was short, had curly blonde hair and freckles, a white and orange hoodie, blue jeans and green sneakers. He carried a skateboard under his arm and he had big blue eyes that would make any hard, tough teacher run away to avoid being swayed. I smiled at him but then remembered the clock and picked up my own bag.

"No problem, but I have to go. My class starts soon, but I'll see ya around?" He nodded and I ran down hallway again. And I made it just in time to see the door open and see the students who got there a bit early start to walk in. I slinked in and hurried to sit down at a front row seat. Though there wasn't much competition. Not that many students wanted to sit so close to the teacher. Besides me there was only two people at the front so far. One was a boy with dark blonde hair, buck teeth, round glasses, freckles and blue eyes. And the other was a girl with blue eyes and her red hair tied into a ponytail, a yellow t-shirt, capri jeans, white and blue tennis shoes and her cheeks were covered with freckles. I knew that girl, her name was April and she was my second best friend. My very best friend was Raph, but that might not come as a surprise.

Our teacher, Mrs. Honey sat on top of her desk and smiled widely at us. She was one of the best teachers at this school since she was always happy and dressed herself in colourful dresses and always had her brown hair in a thick, french braid. At the moment she was dressed in a light green skirt that went down to her knees and a yellow blouse.

"Welcome back class! Did you have a good summer?" Most of the boys and girls murmured yes, but I didn't. My summer had been eventful, but most of the things I had done was either alone, or with just Raph and while that was fun, it would've been great if mom could've joined us. Mrs. Honey continued.

"Well I hope that you have rested and are ready for a new school year." She jumped down from the desk and turned towards the blackboard and started to write up french grammar. I immediately wrote down them in my notebook and then looked up when she started to talk about how french grammar wasn't always regular but my thoughts started to wander and I started to stare down in my book, to make it look like I was reading and not daydreaming. And I wasn't too worried about not learning this, since I was good at learning things without really knowing it myself. Not everything at first, but I was a quick learner so I could study a bit after school and then I would know all this. So while I was sitting in my own thoughts, my arm and hand worked on its own, writing down the notes I thought would be necessary in the future.

I snapped out my thoughts as the bell rang and I saw that everyone stood up out of their seats, gathered up their stuff and started to walk out of the classroom. I was quick to gather up my own stuff and got out of the classroom after my friends. April ran up to me and smiled widely, her blue eyes sparkling with happiness.

"Hi Donnie!" I smiled and put down my books in my duffle bag, before I turned my attention towards April. She might be a year older than me, but she din't seem to care about that and had said herself that I was one of her best friends, and I had to admit that she was a little cute.

"Hi April. How has your summer been? How was Italy?" April had an uncle in Italy and had been gone over the summer to visit him. She smiled and took out her phone from her pocket.

"It was great! I wish you could've been there with us, you would've loved it too!" She tapped a bit on her phone and then turned the screen towards me. The phone showed a picture of April, her dad and a man with black hair who I assumed was her uncle eating ice cream on a bench with Colosseum behind them. She flicked to the right on her phone and it showed a picture of her in front of the leaning tower of pisa, standing in a pose that made it looked like he tried to stand up the tower so it stood straight. I smiled and looked up at her.

"Yeah, I wish my family would go on vacation every now and then. I'd like to see something else but New York." I looked at the clock and then back at April.

"Come on, we have to go. We have math in five minutes." She nodded and we walked into the next class room.

After our math lesson and an english lesson, the bell rang again and April and I walked towards the cafeteria to eat lunch. April would sometimes bring her own lunch to school since her mother was dead and her dad didn't earn that much money. Money had never been a problem in my family so I would buy my lunch from the school cafeteria most of the time, but every now and then I would bring my own food to save some money for myself.

When we came to the cafeteria there was already a lot of students, either standing in line to get food or already sitting down eating with friends. I told April to get a table and that I would get there in a few minutes. The line, thankfully, wasn't that long so it didn't take very long to get to the food.

"Hey again!" I turned around and saw that blonde boy I ran into before walk up to me with a wide smile and I smiled back, a bit unsurely.

"Hi." He placed himself behind me in the line and never once lost his smile. He reached out his hand for me to shake and his eyes seemed to sparkle, kinda like April's eyes had done before.

"My name's Michelangelo, but everybody calls me Mikey. I never caught your name before." I took his hand and shook it. i felt that he had a strong grip, though not very strong, and his freckles and big eyes made him look like a kid.

"My name is Donatello. But you can call me Donnie." When I reached the food I grabbed a burger with cheese, lettuce, tomatoes and pickles, a small plate with fries, another plate with fruit and a carton with milk. Mikey grabbed a slice of pepperoni pizza, a juice box and a plate with fruit. I payed for the food and then turned to Mikey, who handed over a twenty dollar bill to the cashier and then looked at me.

"Wanna sit with me and my friend?" Mikey smiled and we walked over to the table where April sat, with her lunch ready to eat. She had a plastic box with spaghetti and meat sauce, a big red apple and a bottle of juice. She looked at Mikey with questioning eyes, before she smiled and welcomed him to sit down beside her. Mikey did sit down, all though a little hesitantly and tried to smile back.

"Are you new? I haven't seen you around before?" Our school was divided in two parts, one was the elementary school that went from kindergarten and up to sixth grade, and some of the students in fourth grade up to sixth grade could sometimes be seen in our corridors since we had the same classrooms. Mikey nodded and took a bite out of his pizza.

"Yeah, I just started in fifth grade since my old school had to close down. I think it was a money issue or something. My big brother goes to Roosevelt High School up the street? Have you heard about it?" I immediately said that my big brother went to that school and had just started there too. Mikey nodded and asked me about Raph a little, and I just chose to say that he and I were really close and pretty much best friends. We kept on talking until our next lesson stared and we had to go, but I felt happy. I had made a new friend!

* * *

(Raph's P.O.V)

When the school day finally was over I had to praise myself. I hadn't gotten into any trouble at all and I was infamous to always get myself into trouble in school. At least in my old school. Mona Lisa had helped me around today and that Leonardo-guy seemed to stare at me at almost every lesson today and I was fighting the urge to yell at him since I knew that dad would kill me if I got into trouble today. And I had already promised my mom and myself to try and control my temper better.

I made my way out of the school with Mona Lisa by my side and I had to admit that I liked her. She was a smart girl, maybe not a genius but still, and also good at sports. She had almost beaten me in track running today during P.E today. And on top of that she was also pretty tough and I had found out about that when a big muscular guy named Hun tried to hit on her during lunch today.

"So what do you think of Roosevelt High so far?" She asked and brushed her bangs out of her face, showing her blue eyes shine in the sun. I shrugged and placed the strap of my bag over my shoulder.

"It's okay I guess. School isn't really my thing. Besides, my dad kinda wants me to take over his business when I grow up. So I can't really make any future plans." She nodded and looked down at her shoes. She had figured out about my full name when our math teacher had introduced me to the class. And after asking a few questions she had figured out that my dad was really busy and a bit bossy. I didn't want to tell her so much.

We got to my motorcycle and I jumped on and grabbed my helmet. Mona stood beside me and played a little with her hair. In this light she looked really beautiful and I didn't really think that much about how girls looked.

"So, see you tomorrow?" I said and she nodded.

"Yeah." My eyes were locked on her and I couldn't look away. What was happening to me? Why was I staring at this girl like she was some kinda goddess or something?

"Hey! What's going on over here?" I looked to the left and saw that big, muscular guy Hun from before walking towards us and behind him was two, slightly less muscular than him but they still looked strong. And Hun looked really ticked off. Mona Lisa glared at him and put her hands in her sides.

"We were just talking Hun. It's none of your business!" He walked up to me and ignored her, and his dark grey eyes looked like storm clouds.

"Hey Newbie, a word of advice. Stay away from my girl, okay?" Mona looked at him in both shock and anger and pushed him from behind, though it didn't look like he was that bothered by it.

"Excuse me, _your_ girl?! We are not a couple Hun! And I am not some doll that you can play with and do with as you please! Now, back off or I'll call the police!" Hun just smirked at her and grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her close to him.

"You've got attitude, I like that in a woman." I felt anger boil up in me and before I could think it through, I grabbed my bag, smacked it as hard as I could over Hun's head, making him lose his grip on Mona's arm and grab at his head, and I took advantage of the moment and I grabbed her arm, pulled her over, threw her my helmet and forced her sit down behind me on my bike.

"Hang on tight!" I didn't wait for her to hold onto me, I just started to drive so fast that Hun and his two goons had to jump out of the way. Mona yelped in far and latched onto me with a tight grip around my waist. I didn't stop until we were a few blocks away from school and Mona Lisa jumped of the bike and glared at me in anger.

"What the heck was that? Couldn't you at least give me a heads up before you drove off with me like a madman?!" I shrugged and caught the helmet she threw at me with ease.

"Would you have preferred that he would have his way with you? I've seen guys like that before and they can get really aggressive and violent when they get angry." Mona sighed heavily and placed her hand over her face and then let it slide down her face.

"You're crazy, you know that?" I placed my hands on the back of my head and leaned back a little with a smug smile.

"Yeah, I get that a lot. It's my thing." She shook her head and rolled her eyes, but she also had a small smirk on her face. She adjusted her bag so it was draped over her shoulder and smiled at me.

"Well, I guess I do owe you a thank you. Both for helping me with Hun, and for the ride. Now I just have to walk around the block to get home. So thank you." I smiled and put my helmet on and waved at her.

"You're welcome. Well, I'll see you tomorrow. Bye!" And with that I drove down the street. Donnie was probably waiting for me now. And I was right, sort of. Donnie was sitting on a bench with April and a boy with blonde, curly hair that I had never seen before. As I drove up in front of them, Donnie stood up and took out his helmet from his bag.

"Hey Donnie! Ready to go?" I asked through the helmet and Donnie nodded and then turned to his friends and waved.

"I have to go, but I'll see you tomorrow, right?" April nodded and the boy waved slightly at him.

"Yeah, see ya tomorrow dude!" Donnie smiled, put his helmet on and sat down behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist when I started to drive down the street again.

When we got home the apartment, but we had been prepared for that. Donnie went to the fridge and took out some butter, ham, cheese, salad and two slices of bread. He turned to me and held up the bag of bread.

"You want some?" I shrugged and grabbed the bag.

"Sure. I could go for a snack." Donnie put lettuce, ham and cheese on his sandwich, but I decided to just put ham on mine. Donnie sat down on the couch with his math book in his lab and I assumed he tried to study while eating, which wasn't such a good combination for him since he usually would forget about his food. I sat down beside him with the TV remote in my hand and placed my hand on his shoulder.

"Donnie, want a tip? Studying is good and all, but don't forget about your food." Donnie looked up from his book for one second, nodded and the looked back down again while taking a bite out of his sandwich. I turned on the TV and scrolled through the list with channels and tried to find something interesting to watch. I knew that Donnie could drown out the sounds around him when he wanted to, so I didn't think that I would disturb him by watching the TV. I stopped checking through the channels after not finding anything interesting to watch and tried to think of something to distract myself with. I looked at Donnie, who closed his book and put it back down in his bag.

"So how was school? Who was the kid you and April sat with before?" Donnie looked up from his bag, a bit surprised, smiled and leaned back into the couch pillows.

"Oh that was a new kid. He's about a year younger than me and goes in fifth grade. I ran into him in the corridor and we ate lunch together with April." I nodded and looked out the window and saw that it had started to get dark outside. Had it really gotten late already? I guess I had watched TV longer than I thought. I stood up and walked over to the kitchen.

"You hungry? It's getting late." Donnie nodded absentmindedly and started to help me with the food mom had left for us to eat. We ate under silence and Donnie barely ate anything. I knew why, he was sad. He got like this sometimes, when he thought of how our parents treated us. I wanted to say something, bur for once I didn't know what to do to comfort him.

Donnie stood up and thanked for the food, put his plate and utensils in the dish machine and said he was going to bed. But before he could leave I grabbed his arm and grabbed him in a hug, but he remained as stiff as a board.

"Donnie, don't think too much of it. We're going to be fine, we don't need mom or dad. We've gotten by fine so far haven't we? We don't need them." Donnie just nodded, but returned my hug and buried his face into my shoulder. Then he pulled away, left the kitchen and closed the door behind him. And I heard him walk into his room, closing the door behind him.

I sighed heavily. I had known that this was going to happen sooner or later for quite some time now. Donnie hadn't thought of it much when he was a kid, but now he was smarter, more mature and knew that it was wrong of both mom and dad to leave us alone like this he had started to become more depressed and I could tell that he felt rejected and unloved. I wanted to help him, but for the first time in my life, I had no idea of what I could do to help him.

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**A/N: Done! Please review!**


	3. Chapter 3, Sick Day

Brotherly Bonds

**A/N: Sorry for the late update, but I've had a lot of things to do, both in school and at home, since I will be gone for two weeks in June, so I will not update in a while after 7th June and about two weeks forward just so you know. But after that, I'll try to update frequently since I will have no school until August! **

**I decided to keep this story going, for now, but I couldn't come up with anything good for this chapter, so I came up with a sick Donnie chapter. Hope that's good enough for you. **

* * *

Chapter 3, Sick day

(Donnie's P.O.V)

The first thing I noticed when I opened my eyes, was how my throat was smarting and felt like a desert. When I tried to swallow, I cringed at the pain and brought my hands up to my throat. I felt a bit warmer than usual, yet at the same time I was in a cold sweat, even though I was sleeping in a long-sleeved shirt. I sat up and got out of bed, only to almost fall to the floor as a dizzy spell hit me. I wanted nothing more than to go back to bed again, or at least sit down again at least for a minute or so, but I staggered over to the dresser and pulled off the shirt I had slept in as quickly as I could so I wouldn't fall to the floor the first thing I did. I tried to pull down my pajama pants too, but ended up getting another dizzy spell so I sat down on my computer chair so I wouldn't faint.

"Donnie, come on; get up! Breakfast is ready!" That was Mom. Looks like she was home this morning. But, if I knew her well enough, she would be gone long before we were. I waited a few seconds for my dizziness to go away before I tried to respond.

"Coming, Mom!" My voice sounded really hoarse, and what was meant to be a yell mostly came out as a loud whisper. Then I started to cough due to my dry throat and I assume they could hear that, because Raph came into my room looking concerned. When he saw me, he hurried over to me and placed his arm around my bare shoulders.

"Donnie! Bro, are you okay? You look awful!" I tried to clear my throat and looked at Raph with tired eyes.

"Gee, thanks for that, Raph." I heard how hoarse my voice was and Raph heard it too, so he grabbed the shirt that I had dropped on the floor, helped me pull it on again and then led me back to my bed again before he helped me lie down and tucked me in under the covers and an extra blanket to keep me warm, like he always did when I was sick. He placed the back of his hand against my forehead and I could see he was really concerned.

"Donnie, you're burning up! Looks like you've gotten yourself sick, buddy." Gee Raph, you don't say. But I did know why he was so concerned. Whenever I got sick, it was usually a little bit worse than when he got sick. Like, higher fever and nausea. But note that I said 'a _little_ bit'. And I usually got better after just a few days, while Raph was usually sick for at least a week. I sat up, leaned against my pillows for support and comfort, and tried to smile.

"Raph, it's nothing. I'm fine, really." Raph just looked at me with a raised eyebrow and pushed me back down onto the pillows, pulling the covers up to my chin.

"Yeah, 'cuz you look and sound terrific. You just stay here under the covers and keep yourself warm. I'll get Mom to call your school and tell them you're sick. You can't go to school today." I sighed in defeat and just nuzzled my face into my pillow, trying to go back to sleep. I felt Raph rub his hand over my back before he left my room. I heard him start to talk with Mom. I heard their voices, though I couldn't hear what they said since they were in the kitchen, but their talking soon turned into yelling. Or, I should say it was Raph who yelled at Mom, and Mom was trying to talk normally. I tried to block it out by placing my pillow over my head, but it didn't work that well. I hated it when people I cared about argued or fought. After a few minutes I heard the door creak as it opened and my mom came into my room, sat down on my bed beside me and placed her hand on the back of my head.

"Hey, baby. Raph told me he thought you have the flu. Fever and a sore throat and everything. How are you feeling, sweetie?" I looked up from my pillow and at Mom with watery eyes. I hadn't realized that I was crying before now, but I was kinda glad I was sick now, because if they asked why I was crying, I could just blame it on my fever. I sat up and saw that Mom was concerned, but also in a hurry and wanted to get this over with so she could go to work. I shrugged and bit my lower lip.

"Eh, fine, I guess. A bit of rest, some fluid and aspirin, and I'll be fine in a few days." Mom nodded and stroked my hair, and though she was gentle and had soft hands, it still felt weird that she was being so gentle with me. She seemed to think that as long as she was nice, called us things like 'Sweetie', 'Honey', and such, and made sure that she gave us what we needed, she was a good mom. She wasn't; she just didn't show enough effort. She pushed a strand of hair from my face and kissed my forehead.

"Well I'm sorry, sweetie, but I have to go to work. But you'll be fine on your own, right?" I nodded, even if I didn't really want to be all alone. I knew I would more than likely vomit more than once today, and I didn't really like to be alone while I did it. But I knew it was necessary to be alone, not only because Raph had school and mom had to go to work, but also because I wanted to be able to take care of myself. Raph leaned against the doorway and watched us with a look of disgust directed towards Mom with his arms crossed over his chest.

"Actually, Mom," she turned towards him in surprise, "I'm staying with him today. I'll just call my friend and ask her to bring over my homework for me, and I'll be fine." Mom looked like she was about to protest, but then looked at her wrist watch and quickly stood up, grabbed the bag she had placed beside my bed, gave me and Raph a kiss goodbye, and ran out of my room.

"Thank you Raph, honey! I have to go now; see you two later tonight. Bye!" Within seconds she was gone and I didn't quite understand what had just happened. Raph came into my room and sat down beside me, placed his arm around my shoulders and let me lean my head against his shoulder. He rubbed his thumb over my shoulder and placed his cheek against my head.

"Are you okay, little bro?" I knew he wasn't just speaking in regards to my illness, but rather to how our mother had just left us, just like that. I exhaled sluggishly and buried my face into Raph's shoulder, trying so hard not to cry. I hated to cry, especially in front of my big brother... No matter how many times Raph told me it was okay.

"Yeah, I- I'm okay. I'm fine, really. Just tired. You don't have to stay here today. You can go to school, I'll be okay. You know Dad will be furious if you don't go to school and get good grades." I heard him sigh and felt him wrap his other arm around me, hugging me close to him while gently stroking my hair.

"And leave you here all alone while you're sick? Most likely puking, in bed all day, too weak to get anything to drink or eat? No way, brother of mine. I am not going to sit in school thinking about algebraic equations and English literature while you're sick, and that's that." He didn't say it with anger, but he did use his firm voice, and I knew that I couldn't really argue against it, and if I tried he would most likely ignore me anyway. Sometimes I felt like Raph used that voice just because he knew I couldn't really argue against him when he used it. Like he was controlling me with it.

Raph stood up and said he was going to get me some soup and water so I would at least get something to eat, leaving me alone with my thoughts. I started to think about how much I was relying on my older brother. Raph had been there for me ever since I was born and had always been there to help me, raise me and be my best friend. But I had started to feel like he never wanted to let me grow up and be independent. Like when he said that I was too weak to be home alone while I was sick; it made me feel as if he thought I was still a little kid who couldn't take care of himself. I mean, April and other kids in my class had told me that they were mostly home alone when they were sick because their parents had to work, and they seemed to be fine with that. And they were only about a year older than me!

"Here Donnie, you should try to eat something." I snapped out of my reverie and saw Raph had snuck back in, a bowl of chicken broth in one hand and a plastic bucket in the other for if (or when) I needed to throw up. I sat up again and Raph fluffed up my pillows so I would be comfortable sitting against the textured headboard. He placed the bowl of broth on my bedside table and the bucket beside my bed- close to my head so I could easily reach it need be.

"I'll be back in a second. You need some water, and I need to check exactly how high your fever is." I nodded and slowly started to sip on the broth so I wouldn't get sick immediately. Raph returned a few minutes later, armed with a tall glass of water and a thermometer. He placed the glass on my bedside table and sat down beside me. He gently brushed my sweaty, uncooperative bangs out of my face, then placed his hand against my forehead to feel my temperature. He hummed in concern, brought the thermometer to my mouth.

"Open up." I obeyed, and the tip of the device was placed under my tongue. I closed my mouth and waited for the beep, then opened my mouth again so Raph could take it out and see the numbers on the display. My brother sighed heavily and it was plain to see that he didn't like what the thermometer said.

"Ugh. 103 degrees Fahrenheit. That's a pretty high fever, bro." I groaned and leaned back against my pillows. Not good.

Speaking of not good, I immediately started to feel sick and something rose in my throat. I placed one of my hands over my mouth and the other over my stomach and tried to suppress the urge to vomit, and Raph thankfully noticed in time. He quickly dropped the thermometer on the bedside table, grabbed the bucket beside my bed, and gave it me just in time before I had to let go and expel. I felt the nasty concoction come out of both my mouth and nose and the taste was enough to make me gag, even more than the sensation of something warm ejecting from the back of my abused throat. While I coughed and heaved out what little substance I had in my stomach, I felt rather than saw Raph brushing my hair from my mouth and face and rubbing his hand over my back consolingly. He usually did that when I was sick and usually it helped, but not right now. I just wanted him to remove his hand from my personal space and leave me alone.

After little more than a minute my vomiting turned into dry heaving and a bit of coughing. I felt tears form in my eyes and they started to fall down my cheeks as I heaved. I tried to take deep, calming breaths so that I wouldn't whimper, but when a soft sob managed to get out, I felt Raph's arm wrap around my shuddering form and hug me close. I tried to squirm away from him, but I was too weak to fight against his strength; also, I admittedly felt a bit better with Raph showing his concern, even if got annoying sometimes. He handed me the glass of water.

"You should rinse your mouth, it'll get rid of the taste. You can spit it out into the bucket. I'll clean it later." I let the water wash the nasty taste of vomit out of my mouth and spit it out into the bucket. Raph took the bucket and placed it back on the floor. He pushed me back down on my pillows.

"Now try to get some sleep, little bro. If you need me, I'll be out in the living room." I nodded and watched him leave, the bucket in his hand. My guess was that he was going to clean it before he put it back in here again.

The bowl of broth still stood beside me on the bedside table, but now I wasn't that tempted to even attempt eating it. It was probably cold by now, anyways. I shifted around under the covers and blankets to get comfortable.

I had one problem, though. No matter how hard I tried, there was something that prevented me from going to sleep. My throat was dry and aching, even when I tried to drink some of that water Raph had brought me. My head was pounding and it felt like somebody was beating my head in with a sledgehammer. Plus, I had that problem that you always seem to encounter when you have a fever. You're too warm, and remove your covers to cool down a bit, and when you do that you're too cold and you pull the covers over yourself again, and so it goes on until you either fall asleep or you get distracted by something else.

I finally managed to get comfortable and felt how heavy my eyelids were. After a few minutes I finally managed to fall asleep.

* * *

(Raph's P.O.V)

After I had gone out with Donnie's barf bucket, I went down to the bathroom to clean it out. The foul-smelling beige brown puke blended with the water as I used the showerhead to rinse the bucket and pour the watery substance down the drain. After I had cleaned it and dried it with one of the bathroom towels, I walked as quietly as I could into Donnie's room and placed the bucket beside his bed. My little brother was sleeping now and even though he was sick and had both a high fever and sore throat, he looked peaceful. He always looked like a little kid when he was asleep. I knelt down beside him and placed my hand against his cheek to see how warm he was now. He was slightly cooler, but still way too warm for my liking. He moaned and shifted slightly in his sleep at my tentative touch and buried his face into his pillow, something that showed me he wanted to be left alone. I smiled at him and stroke my hand over his head, and gently ruffled his hair.

"Sleep tight, kid. Hope you feel better when you wake up." I grabbed the bowl of cold broth and left, closing the door behind me and got back to the living room so I wouldn't disturb him. Walking over to the couch, I took out my iPhone and called Mona Lisa. The clock showed 11:23, so I knew that she was eating lunch right now and not in the middle of a class. She answered almost immediately.

"_Hey, Raph! I thought you were sick today; why are you calling?_" I thought about what to say, and decided to tell the truth; something I didn't usually do. I usually bent the truth a little bit, said nothing or even straight up lied about things that I found too personal. I didn't want to tell people about things that wasn't their concern.

"Uh, actually, I'm home with my little brother today. He's the one who's sick, not me. Listen, I need to ask you for a favor." Mona Lisa knew a little about Donnie, how close we were and how important the kid was to me. But that was it. I didn't know her well enough to spill my life story to her yet.

"_Sure! What can I do for you?_" I really hated to ask for help from others, even if they were my friends, but today I didn't really have much of a choice. If my dad found out that I was ignoring my schoolwork, being home and not doing a thing, he'd beat me into next week. So I sucked up my pride and asked her.

"Do you think you could bring my homework over today? I would really appreciate it if you did." I nearly gagged at my own words. I wasn't the kind of guy to say '_appreciate_', or to ask anyone for help in the first place, but what choice did I have? Thankfully she seemed to understand, promised me that she would swing by after school with my homework. I quickly gave her my address, thanked her and hung up since she had to go back to class.

I switched on the TV and lowered the volume to the perfect setting so that I could hear if Donnie called out for me and yet still hear the TV. I clicked through the channels and stopped to watch Terminator 2, but I strangely had very little interest in the movie, even though it was one of my favorite movies.

The sounds of a building coughing fit made me look away from the screen and turn off the volume completely. I heard a gagging, heaving sound and it took a few seconds to realize what it was. And when I did, I flew up from the couch and ran back into Donnie's room. I was up and in Donnie's room before my brain had even registered it. And what I saw wasn't pretty.

Donnie was leaning over the bucket on the floor and was quite obviously throwing up. I knelt down beside him and made sure that he wouldn't get any puke in his hair or on his clothes. When he was done, he collapsed on the bed, sweating and shivering simultaneously. He was weakened and his face was really pale. I reminded myself that he had to eat, but decided to bring that up a little later. I sat down beside him, combing through his hair with my fingers in a comforting gesture.

"Hey. How do you feel, kiddo?" I knew the answer, but I wanted him to tell me more specifically how he felt. He looked up at me with watery eyes and shook his head, grimacing.

"Like I've been lost in the desert, turned inside out and back again, and then trapped on a merry-go-round going at full speed. Something like that." I nodded and placed my hand on his shoulder.

"Bro, I hate to say it, but I think you need to eat something. You're so pale you look almost see-through. Plus, I think it'll give you some of your strength back." Donnie didn't look so happy about that, but he nodded before he buried his face into his pillow. I felt so sorry for the poor guy. He just looked so miserable right now. He was rarely sick, but when he was, he would get really sick. I lay down beside him, placed my hand around his back and leaned my head against his.

"I know it's not a very tempting thought right now. But I promise, it'll make you feel better as long as you eat slowly. I can go and warm up some soup for you, if you promise you'll eat it. Okay?" Donnie took a deep breath and nodded into his pillow. I slowly stood up and walked out of the room. I grabbed a can of chicken soup, poured it into a saucepan and warmed it before I poured some of it into a bowl and took it back to Donnie.

He was sitting up now with his back against the headboard, rubbing his hand over his forehead and looking like he had a headache. For a second I thought over whether I should go and get him an aspirin and another glass of water, but then decided that I should do that after he had eaten at least a little bit. I gave him the bowl and he took it with shaky hands.  
He slowly and hesitantly started to sip on the soup and eyed the bucket with cautious eyes, like he was waiting for the vomit session to resume.

Donnie continued to eat very slowly, and I could understand why. It was partly because he knew it was smart to eat slowly when you had a flu, so it wouldn't upset your stomach even more, and partly because no one was keen on eating anything after just throwing up.

"How do you feel now? You need anything else?" Donnie looked up from the bowl and thought about it. He looked at the now empty glass of water and then placed his hand on his head.

"Maybe a glass of water and an aspirin? My head hurts. A lot." I nodded and took the glass, went back to the kitchen, filled the glass with water and then visited the bathroom and got the aspirin Donnie had requested. When I got back to Donnie's room I saw he had placed the bowl on the bedside table, but I also saw that he had eaten a bit more than a few sips. That was good enough for now. I gave him the small white pill and the water and he gratefully took both, the pill quickly disappearing with a mouthful of water. He then lay back down again and closed his eyes. After a few seconds he opened his eyes again and smiled tiredly at me.

"Thank you, for staying home today to take care of me, Raph. I really appreciate it." I smiled and knelt down beside his bed, close to his head. He looked a little better now. He had gotten some colour back on his cheeks, his eyes looked a little more lively and the usual, lively spark returned to them. I placed my arm around him and hugged him close to me.

"No need to thank me, kid. You know I'll always be there for you when you need me." I let him go, sat him back up against his pillows and passed him the bowl of soup again. "You should eat a little bit more and then try to get some more sleep. I'm sure you'll feel better when you wake up again." Donnie nodded and started to sip a bit more of the hot liquid. After he had eaten about half of the soup, he placed the bowl back on the bedside table and lay down again. I fluffed up the pillows and tucked him in to make him comfortable and gently stroke his hair before I left the room.

I had barely closed the door before I heard the doorbell ring throughout the apartment. I figured that was Mona Lisa with my schoolwork.

But when I opened the door, it wasn't Mona Lisa who stood there. It was a tall boy with dark hair, a dark blue shirt and black jeans. I recognised him as Leonardo, or 'Leo', as most of my classmates seemed to call him. He was the most 'perfectly perfect kid' I had ever seen and that's saying a lot, since I had seen a quite a few in my old school. He almost always sat in the front of the class and always answered the questions the teachers asked correctly. And on top of that, mostly everyone in class liked him or was his friend. In other words, I didn't like him.

"Hey." He said and smiled politely at me. I just raised my eyebrow at him and didn't return the smile.

"What are you doing here?" I know I sounded rude, but I didn't even like this guy, so why should I try to be nice and polite? Leo, however, didn't lose his smile and swung his backpack from his shoulder.

"Mona Lisa told me that you were home today and had asked for your homework. She said she had to go to the hospital to see her father, so she asked me to give it to you." He took out a green plastic folder and a rather thick book, giving both to me. I glared at the folder and the book and then at Leo, and then I snatched the items away from him.

"Thanks." I muttered and closed the door in his face.

I threw the items onto my desk in my room and sat down at the computer chair and looked through the papers. There wasn't that much to do. I had to write an essay in biology about DNA structure, fill out a paper with a bunch of algebraic equations to solve, and write a book report about 'The Green Mile' by Stephen King. I sighed and leaned back in my chair. I knew I had to deal with these things or my dad would kill me, but I didn't even know where to start. I hated both reading, algebra and biology! How do you choose between the things you hate?

Suddenly I felt and heard my stomach growl, and I looked at the digital clock on my bedside table. It showed 15:16, and I realized I hadn't eaten anything since breakfast, at 7:00! I had been so busy taking care of Donnie and lost in my movie that I had forgotten to eat.

I decided to make a sandwich and worry about what to do with my homework later. I walked back to the kitchen for the umpteenth time today and into kitchen and made myself a sandwich with ham, cheese, and lettuce, and poured up a glass of orange juice. Taking my food back to my room, I started to eat while looking through my homework. Finally, I chose to start with the book report since I hated both math and biology more than reading. Plus it was easier to do a book report since I could just look up information about it on the internet if I had to. And besides, it was Stephen King. I had read a few books that he had written, and he was a pretty good author. I sat down on my bed and opened the book, leaned back against my pillows, and started to read.

(A few hours later)

I peeked into Donnie's room and was pleased to see that he was asleep, though he had been for a rather long time. He had woken up to eat a little, but other than that he had been asleep most of the day. That was a good sign; it meant that Donnie would get better in just a few days. And he hadn't thrown up at all since that last time, although I still kept the bucket by his bed just to be safe.  
I had eaten dinner and was about to take a shower when I heard the door open and close with a loud '_BANG_', and I swivelled around to investigate what had caused it. My father, Oroku Saki, stepped in with anger written all over his face.

"Raphael! I need to speak with you, _NOW_!" I was taken aback by his anger and before I could react, he grabbed my arm and dragged me into his and Mom's room. In the corner of my eye I saw Mom standing at the door with fear and worry evident in her stance. I tried to fight back, but he was stronger than me and he also happened to be a master in martial arts. He pushed me into his room, closed and locked the door behind us. He turned to me.

"I heard you stayed home from school today, son. Why?" I got angry. I figured that Mom had told him that Donnie was sick and that I had stayed home today. And the fact that Dad didn't seem to care about Donnie but rather that I hadn't gone to school today only added fuel to the flames.

"Oh yeah, Father, Donnie's feeling great. He only threw up twice today and his fever has gone down quite a bit. He'll be totally fine, thank you for asking!" My voice was drenched in sarcasm and he heard it loud and clear. His eloquent response was to slap me across the face. Hard.

When he slapped me, I accidentally bit myself on the inside of my cheek, and I felt blood on my tongue. Both my cheek and face hurt so badly that I felt tears forming in my eyes. I blinked back my tears of pain and faced my father with an unholy rage in my orbs. He looked at me with fury.

"How dare you speak to me in that way!? I am your father, and you are to show me respect! Understood?" He was yelling now, and I was afraid that Donnie would hear him and understand what was going on. Or worse, get up to investigate and get hurt by our father in the process. I took a deep breath and decided to humor our father, for Donnie's sake.

"I understand, Father." He smirked at me, like he knew I was going to play by his rules. He grabbed me by the collar of my t-shirt and shook me.

"Good, now I'm going to ask one more time: why did you not go to school today? Answer me!" I don't know why I didn't want to tell him that I stayed home with Donnie to make sure he was okay and give him what he needed. But I did know that my father could smell lies like a shark could smell blood from miles away. I looked away from him and muttered my answer.

"I stayed home to take care of Donnie. He was so sick, I just wanted to make sure he got food and whatever he needed. I asked a friend to-!" Father just pushed me to the floor before I could finish and kicked me in my stomach, making me yell in pain.

"You fool! I expect you to take over my company one day! And I expect you to do well in school and carry on what I have created! Thus, you have to go to school no matter what! And your emotions and love for Donatello are hindering you from reaching your goals! How do you expect him to grow up to be a strong and leading man like me if you keep treating him like a child? He is old enough to take care of himself, even if he's sick! And if you keep looking after him like he's a child you'll grow sentimental and weak! Do I make myself clear?" I nodded and pushed myself up, but I barely got to a crouch before Father placed his foot on my chest and shoved me down to the cold, wooden floor again.

"What do you have to say to me?" I didn't want to say anything at all, and he knew that. He meant that I had to say that I understood what he meant and thus confirm that he had won. I refused to give him the satisfaction of seeing me give in to his demands. To hell with humoring this man!

"I can say that you're nothing but a great big asshole, and that you can go to hell!" He pushed his foot further into my ribs, and I could almost hear them crack ever so slightly. Then he slapped me again and kicked me in the chest and I'm sure my ribs broke, or at least cracked.

"What did you say?!" I held back my snarky remark, took a deep breath through my nose. If I kept this up I knew he would probably break a few bones, and Donnie would get even more scared of our dad when he found out about it.

"I, I said I understand you, Father. Loud and clear." He nodded, grabbed by my shirt and threw me to my feet before he pushed me towards the door.

"Good. Now go to your room! I will go out with your mother for an important meeting concerning the company. You will stay here and not do anything except your homework! Understood?" I nodded and said yes and he unlocked the door, letting me go outside. I went straight for my room, slammed the door shut and threw myself on my bed, buried my face in my pillow and I let out my anger in a long, muffled yell into the soft materials. I still refused to cry even though the bruises on my chest, face and stomach hurt so much; it was really hard to keep my tears from falling.

"I will not cry, I'm okay. I will _not_ cry, I'm _okay!_" I muttered to myself over and over to calm myself down, and the tears eventually stopped trying to escape from my eyes. I turned around so I lay on my back.

I stared up at the ceiling and through my closed door I heard the front door open and close and I felt a great wave of relief wash over me. Looking at digital watch, I saw it was getting late. 20:13. If I wanted to shower, I had to do so now. But I just didn't feel like getting up.

"Raphie?" I snapped out of my thoughts and looked at my bedroom door. I hadn't even heard it open.

Donnie stood there in his pajamas and looked at me with wide and teary eyes. My heart broke slightly when I saw how sad and scared he looked. His stuffed turtle was squeezed tightly in the crook of his arm, and he only gripped at it that tightly when Mother and Father were fighting or when he was really, really scared.

"Donnie..." A few tears fell from his eyes and that just made me feel worse. I ran forward and wrapped my arms around him and held him as tightly as I could without hurting him. Donnie buried his face into my chest and I felt his tears wet my t-shirt. I walked back to my bed and sat down with Donnie still in my arms. He wrapped his arms around my waist and sobbed into my chest.

"I- I heard y-you and D-Dad fight. I heard him h-hit you, I h-heard you s-scream. I was so- so scared that h-he was going to kill you!" I gently shushed him while rocking him from side to side, trying to calm him down. He hugged his turtle close to him, but eventually his crying started to subside a little.

"Shh... It's okay, Donnie. I'm fine, everything's going to be okay. He's not gonna kill me; he needs me to become the boss of his company, remember?" Donnie nodded into my shirt, but he still didn't seem too convinced. My younger brother was so mature and smart for his age, sometimes I forgot that he was just eleven. A kid. It just wasn't fair, he was still a child and he shouldn't have to be worried about if our father was going to hurt us or even kill us. I hugged him a bit tighter and pressed my cheek into his soft hair.

"And don't you worry about him, I won't let him hurt you, bro. He is never going to touch you! Not now, not ever! Not if I have anything to say about it." Donnie nodded and he had almost stopped crying. I grabbed him by the shoulders and gently pulled him away from me so I could look him in the eyes. When I saw the tears that still fell from his eyes I gently brought my hand up to his face and dried his eyes and cheeks.

"Come on now, Donnie. Stop crying; I'm here, and we're okay." Donnie sniffled a little and smiled at me.

"O-okay." I smiled back and rubbed his scalp. He rested his head on my shoulder and sighed. I squeezed him gently and thought about what my father had told me before.

_"I expect you to take over my company one day!"_

_"Your emotions and love for Donatello are hindering you from reaching your goals!"_

_"And how do you expect him to grow up to be a strong and leading man like me if you keep treating him like a child?!"_

_"And if you keep looking after him like he's a child, you'll grow sentimental and weak!"_ I growled in anger. How could he say those things? For crying out loud, Donnie _was_ a child! He wasn't _that_ strong and, while he was smart and mature, he wasn't mature or grown up enough to take care of himself! And besides, he was my baby brother and I had promised to always be there for him. I couldn't just break that promise and stop caring for him. I just _couldn't_.

I looked down at Donnie and heard by his breathing that he was asleep. Smiling fondly at him and gently lifting him up in my arms, I carried him over to his room and gently lay him him down in his bed, pulling the covers over his small, skinny body. I gave him his stuffed turtle, making sure he had it close to him if he felt like he needed it. Sometimes when he had a fever, he got nightmares, and his little turtle helped him calm down. It had since he was a little kid.

I looked down at my baby brother, and stroked my hand over his cheek. Donnie always looked so innocent when he was sleeping, like he didn't have a care in the world. But that picture of him was a lie and I knew he was really worried and scared most of the time. I knelt down beside him and placed my hand on his forehead. His fever had gone down a bit and I was sure it was somewhere in between 100 and 102 degrees Fahrenheit, so at least he was getting a little bit better. I brushed away his slightly sweaty hair from his face and kissed him lightly on the forehead and nuzzled his hair with my cheek, causing Donnie to smile lightly in his sleep, nuzzle his face into the pillow and sighed happily. I smiled affectionately at his reaction and carefully placed my arms around him and leaned down closer to him so I could hug him easier.

"I love you, Donnie. I love you _so_ much." I kissed his hair. "Good night." I let go of Donnie, ran my fingers through his hair, stood up and walked towards the door. But I turned around just before I left and looked over at Donnie and took a deep breath. "And don't you worry. I'm not gonna let anyone hurt you. Not dad, not anyone. Not as long as I'm alive. I promise." I whispered and walked out, closing the door as quietly as I could.

* * *

**A/N: Okay I hadn't intended to write a chapter this long, but that's good right? Hope you liked this chapter and the first real introduction of Oroku Saki and how he abuses his family. I know not very much happened, but whatever. **

**OBS! Just a quick reminder, I will be going on a vacation next week on Sunday so I won't update for two weeks! I will try to update before then, but I can't promise anything! **

**Hope you liked this chapter and please review, favorite and follow! G'night everybody!**


	4. Chapter 4, A fight makes a new friend?

Brotherly Bonds

**A/N: New chapter update! This is the last chapter and update for at least two weeks since I will go on vacation on Sunday and be gone for two weeks! Just a quick reminder!**

**I also want to say a special thanks to ****ThisVioletofMine who have been beta-reading my chapters and helped me make them better. I never said this in the other chapters, so I wanted to say this now anyway! Thanks Violet, you're awesome!**

**Hope you'll enjoy this chapter**

* * *

Chapter 4, A fight makes a new friend?

(Donnie's P.O.V)

A few days passed and my flu began to fade away a little bit each day. And even though Raph was forced to go to school after Dad had found out that Raph had stayed home to take care of me, he still came home immediately after school and then he would be there to help me if he needed to. Today I felt much better and only had a little fever and a slight headache. But other than that, I was much better. Raph was getting ready to go to school and today I was up to say goodbye before he left. He stood in the doorway, getting ready to leave, but then he turned back to me.

"Are you sure you'll be okay, bro? I know you've gotten better now, but I still don't-" I rolled my eyes and placed my hand over his mouth, making him stop talking.

"Yes Raph, I'm sure I'll be okay. Do we have to have this discussion every day? I know I'm younger than you, but I'm still capable of taking care of myself at home. Okay?" Raph took a deep breath through his nose with closed eyes and then removed my hand from his mouth.

"Yeah yeah, okay." He knelt down to put on his shoes, but kept talking. "I've left some food for you to warm in the refrigerator. And I still think you should rest as much as possible. Don't get up and do too much at once, you're still recovering! And if anything goes wrong-" I rolled my eyes again. I love Raph, but _man_, he could get so incredibly annoying sometimes.

"I'll call you immediately and you'll come home to help me as fast as you can. I get it, Raph! Now calm down already, I am _not_ a baby!" Raph sighed heavily and ran a hand through his spiky red hair. He stood up again and placed his arms around me.

"Sorry. I know I'm going a little overboard and that you can take care of yourself. It's just that... Well, I take my job as your big brother very seriously, and I don't want you to get hurt or even sicker. So, please, at least try to to get some rest and take it easy today and maybe you can go to school tomorrow, okay?" I nodded into his shoulder and hugged him back. While I thought Raph could be very annoying, strict and overprotective sometimes, I knew he did what he did because he loved me.

"Yeah, okay. Now, you should get moving or you'll be late." Raph smiled, ruffled my hair and hugged me one last time before he grabbed his bag and opened the door.

"Bye, Donnie! Hope you'll get better today, bro!" He said before he closed the door behind himself. I smiled at the door and walked into the kitchen, taking out some of the pancakes that Mom had made for breakfast today and warming them in the microwave. While they were getting reheated I took out a bottle of syrup, followed by some milk, which I poured into a glass. Just when I placed the milk back in the refrigerator, the microwave beeped to tell me that the time was up. I took out the plate with the pancakes and poured the syrup over them.

I placed my food on the coffee table in front of the TV and turned it on, looked through the channels. I stopped at a channel that showed the beginning of Disney's 'Aladdin' and I decided to watch that. Some people, like my dad, for example, may say that I was too old for Disney movies, but I thought that as long as you enjoyed the movie, you couldn't grow out of it. Besides, I thought it was kinda nice to watch a kid's movie when I was sick; it made me feel a little better since I got to laugh and smile throughout most of the movie. And it had Robin Williams in it! How could you NOT like a movie with him in it?

I settled down on the couch, pulled a blanket over myself and dragged the coffee table closer to me and began to eat, watching the movie with a smile. I remembered when I was a kid (I think I was six years old) Raph had told me that our parents had been cursed by Jafar to be evil and that was why they treated us so badly. I had asked if he could ask the Genie if he could undo the spell, but he had answered that the Genie was a free genie now and could be anywhere and do anything he wanted so it probably wouldn't work. I smiled at the memory and finished my pancakes just in time for 'One Jump Ahead' to start playing.

* * *

(Raph's P.O.V)

"Mr. Saki, are you paying attention?" I jumped a little at the sharp voice and turned away from the window I had been staring out of since the beginning of the lesson. I slowly rotated to face the English teacher, Mr. Sticks, who didn't look so pleased. Everyone else in the classroom stared at me too, and I didn't know whether to apologise or be embarrassed. I rolled my eyes, placed my chin in my hand and rested my elbow on the desk.

"Sorry. I'll listen." I muttered and looked down at my book as he started to talk again about the importance of literature and how it had affected human society for the better. I tuned him out again, but this time I stared down at my book of English literature and my notebook with a pen in my hand, so it would look like I was writing down notes for later. But my mind was elsewhere. And no, I wasn't thinking about Donnie that much, I knew he was well enough to take care of himself.

I was thinking about my father. How he had told me that Donnie was stopping me from 'reaching _my goals_ in life'. Those weren't my goals, my life dream wasn't to keep my father's stupid company going! Those were _his goals_, not mine! I knew my grades got worse and worse each year, and even though they were high enough for me to pass each class, they were still pretty bad, even if I got help from teachers and other, smarter students. Heck, even _Donnie_ understood my homework better than I did. And he was still in middle school! He basically helped me from flunking in school, but still. So why didn't Father ever consider getting someone else to run the company in the future? I froze. What if he thought that _Donnie_ should take over the company and make him the heir?!

I shook my head to get rid of those thoughts and looked down at my book again. Ugh, no! I would never allow that to happen! I needed to think about something else! I tried to read a chapter about Shakespeare and his work, but lost interest just after reading the date he was born. I looked at Mona Lisa, who was writing notes like there was no tomorrow. She had styled her long hair into a thick braid that hung over her shoulder. Her pink clothes were replaced with a black off-shoulder shirt with long sleeves, dark blue jeans and a pair of black converse. She also had a bit of mascara and thin layer of pink lipstick today. She really was pretty. And unlike many other girls I had met, she had both brains and muscles.

The sound of the school bell made me snap out my thoughts, and in a way I guess that was good, or else Mona Lisa might have looked up at me and thought I was staring at her. Which, in a way, I kinda was... but whatever. I gathered up my things and hurried out of the classroom before Mr. Sticks could catch me and ask why I wasn't paying attention. I hurried towards the cafeteria so I could get there before the line got too long. When I got there I saw that the line was still rather short so I stopped walking quickly. I was about to get to the back of the line when a familiar figure placed himself there just a second before me. Leo, of course it had to be him! I grabbed his shoulder and turned him towards me.

"Hey! No cuttin' in line!" Leo looked a bit surprised at first, but frowned and crossed his arms over his chest. And he responded calmly, but still with a stern edge to him.

"I wasn't cutting. I walked up to the end of the line and stood there like you're supposed to do. Now back off, hothead, I wanna get something to eat." He turned around again and ignored me. Hothead? Who was he calling a hothead?! I shoved him in the back, grabbed the collar of his shirt and turned him around to face me again.

"What did you call me, rich boy?" Leo wasn't expecting that and for a second, he looked scared. But then he frowned and got angry instead. He pushed me off him and jabbed his finger into my chest.

"A _hothead_. I called you a hothead. Or are you too stupid to figure out what people say to you? And who are you to call _ME_ rich? Your dad is the richest man in America; in fact, I bet he bought you a place in this school just to get rid of you! And I'll bet that he buys great grades for you when you flunk your exams!" Oh, that was _it_! I gathered up all my strength and landed a punch, right on his face! Cries of fear and surprise were heard all over the cafeteria and people started to gather around to watch the fight.

Leo lay on the floor, looking pretty dazed; a big, black bruise was forming on his jaw. He looked up at me in anger and got into a crouch.

"Alright, that's the way you wanna play? Fine, let's play!" When he said 'play', he swung out his leg in a sweeping motion and swept me off my feet, making me fall to the floor as well. I growled and got up from the floor again and managed to land another punch in his gut. He let out a choked huff and grabbed his injured abdomen, soon aiming a punch of his own, right at my left eye. I yelled in pain and placed my hand over my eye, and before I could react, Leo managed to kick me in the chest. Right where my father had cracked my ribs! I fell to my knees and had to take a few deep breaths so I wouldn't cry in pain. I was about to kick Leo back when a loud voice interrupted our fight.

"_ENOUGH_!" All sound in the cafeteria was cut off in less than a second. Three teachers had entered, and two of them rushed over to separate Leo and I from each other. The third one, Mr. Sticks, walked over to us and crossed his arms over his chest.

"What the hell are you two doing? Have you _both_ turned into five-year-olds?" Leo looked down at the floor in shame, but I refused to show weakness of any kind. He pointed towards the exit and his eyes showed no mercy.

"Principal's office, _NOW_!"

A few minutes later I was sitting in a chair in front of the principal's desk and held an icepack over my black eye; my other arm was wrapped around my aching chest. The principal looked at me with stern eyes and analyzed me from head to toe with angry, yet curious, eyes.

"Mr. Saki, I understand if you were provoked, and I admit that Leonardo was pushing you a bit too hard. But you must understand that I do not tolerate violence in my school. Is that clear?" He didn't sound angry like my father always did, but I still got what he meant and nodded.

"I understand, Mr. Hamato. I'm so sorry for starting that fight, I have a bit trouble with my temper, and I promise to work on it." Mr. Hamato nodded and looked down at his papers. He frowned a little before he looked up again. And this time he smiled at me.

"I understand you have a bit of a tough situation with your father at home, a lot of pressure on your work?" I was taken back by his question. How the heck did he know that?

"How did you-?" He showed me an email that he had printed out.

"Your father has given us," He cleared his throat, "instructions on how to school you and what he expects to see in your results and from us as teachers." I groaned and facepalmed in embarrassment. Mr Hamato laughed slightly and then got serious again.

"Since you are new, I will try to be nice. I will give you lunch-detention with Leonardo for the rest of the week and I will give you a warning. But if anything like this happens again, I will have to be more strict with you. Is that clear?" He was gentle and he wasn't angry, but at the same time I heard that he didn't want to be contradicted. I sighed and nodded.

"I understand." He grinned again.

"Good, then you may leave." I sighed in relief the moment I was out of the office and removed the icepack from my eye. I saw that Leo was sitting on the bench beside the door and when I saw him he got to his feet and walked up to me. He looked a little guilty and a little on his guard.

"Look, Raph? I'm sorry that I pushed you so hard before. I guess I was just a little fed up. You've seemed to have a problem with me ever since the semester started and I didn't know why. But that was no reason for me to act the way I did or say the things I said. I'm so sorry." I was a bit taken aback by his apology and at first I didn't know what to say. What was I SUPPOSED to say? I knew I had overreacted and I shouldn't have attacked him like I did, but could I say that? I took a deep breath.

"I can't believe I'm saying this." I muttered to myself before I looked Leo in the eyes and spoke a little louder now. "It's okay. I shouldn't have overreacted or started the fight. I..." I took another deep breath and said it. "I'm s-sorry, you know." Leo nodded and rubbed the back of his head awkwardly, then tried to smile.

"Yeah, well, I thought that since we are going to have detention together for the rest of the week, I thought maybe we could, you know, start over? So we at least can accept each other?" I eyed him carefully as he reached out his hand for me to shake. I thought for a minute. This guy had been driving me nuts for no apparent reason and maybe it would be good to get a friend that was a guy and wasn't my brother. Besides, if he was annoying or I didn't like him, I could just ditch him. I reached out and grabbed his hand with a small smile.

"Sure, why not? But if you ever talk about my dad-" Leo shook his head and brought his hands up in an 'I surrender' gesture.

"Don't worry, it's apparent that you didn't like to talk about him." I nodded and looked at him with a raised eyebrow. He had that bruise on his jaw, but other than that, he seemed okay. I smiled a little at him and placed my arm around his shoulders.

"You know, I was so sure that you were nothing but a goody-two-shoes that kissed up to adults, but you're a fearless goody-two-shoes who can fight back. That's actually pretty cool." He smiled at me with a raised eyebrow and playfully shoved me away, looking at me with mock anger.

"Hey, I'm not a goody-two-shoes! I just take responsibility for the things I have to and take care of the things I love or care about. You should try that sometime." I frowned a little at that. I did take responsibility for Donnie, and I knew I couldn't live without him. Sure, I couldn't care less about school, but Donnie was everything to me.

"Hey, I can be responsible; I'm just not good at school and stuff like that!" Leo playfully punched my shoulder with about as much strength as you use when you dust off your clothes.

"Oh yeah? You can be responsible? Like with what?" I hesitated. I hardly knew this guy and I didn't want to give anything personal away. I decided to keep it short and just say it like it was.

"Well, I have a little brother, okay?" He seemed to soften up a bit and his eyes widened a little.

"And you take care of him?" I nodded and crossed my arms over my chest. Leo smiled. "So do I. He's just ten, and goes to a school down the street. What about yours?" I was surprised at Leo's answer, but I was kinda glad we had something in common.

"He's eleven. I think he goes to the same school as your brother." Leo nodded, opened his mouth to talk when a bell rang and I remembered that we had Geography in five minutes. Leo looked at me and smirked.

"Race you to the classroom?" I smirked back.

"Oh, you're on!"

When the bell for our last lesson rang, both Leo and I hurried out of the building. Leo said that he had to pick up his brother, Mikey, and I said I had to go home immediately, so we parted ways at the exit of the school. We had talked a bit throughout the rest of the day when we could, like in between lessons, and I had found out that Leo was the son of the principal and was sometimes teased for it, but he couldn't care less. So in a way we were kinda similar. We were both the kids of an authority figure and were sometimes labeled for it. But other than that we didn't have much in common.

"Hey, Raph? You're kinda cool, for a hothead." Leo said before we went off in our own directions, swinging his bag onto his shoulder. This time, when he said 'hothead', I only took slight offense. I smirked a little and swung my own bag over my shoulder.

"Yeah? You're not too bad yourself, Fearless." He rolled his eyes at me and placed his hands on his hips. He didn't really like that I called him Fearless, but it seemed better than goody-two-shoes, so I guess he didn't want to complain.

"Wanna go and grab a pizza after school tomorrow? I'd like to get to know you a bit better." I got a bit hesitant. I didn't know whether Donnie would be better tomorrow, but if he got by fine today, he should be fine tomorrow too. I looked at Leo and shrugged.

"I don't know if I have the time, I'll tell you tomorrow before class, okay?" He nodded before he took off and ran down the street and waved goodbye. I walked over to my motorcycle and drove off. This day had turned out a little different from what I had expected. I didn't think that I would be on the way of making friends with Leo after punching him in the face. But maybe that would be a good thing. Or maybe it's not? We'll see in time, I guess.

* * *

(Donnie's P.O.V)

I lay on the couch and watched Finding Nemo as I waited for Raph to come home. After Aladdin had ended, I had decided to watch some more of our old Disney movies, just for the nostalgia and the enjoyment of it. So far I had watched Aladdin, Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, and Brother Bear. And now, Finding Nemo: one my personal favorites and still a great movie even after a long time of not watching it.

I heard the door open and close so I sat up on the couch and looked in its direction. Raph came into the living room after about a minute, but what I saw was not exactly what I had expected. He was covered in bruises, had a black eye, and he also had a hand over his ribs. I flew up from the couch and ran up to him.

"What happened? Are you okay?!" Raph yanked away from me at first, and when I tried to touch his face he just jerked away from my touch and turned away from me. He had never been one to accept help from others, even when we were kids. I guess that happens when you learn to take care of yourself and your sibling when you're a kid.

"I'm okay, Donnie. It's just a few bruises, no big deal." He muttered and pushed me away when I tried to touch him, but I managed to get ahold of his face and turned him towards me, getting a good look at his eye. The left eye was swollen and the black eye made me cringe.

"You got into a fight, didn't you?" When he didn't answer and looked away from me, I understood that he wasn't going to say anything about it, so I grabbed his arm and dragged him over to the couch, pushed him down and ran to grab the first aid kit. When I got back to the living room, I decided to start with his eye and placed an ice pack over it; Raph grabbed it to hold it in its place. When I had done that, I started to clean the few open wounds by bringing out a cotton pad and getting some rubbing alcohol on it.

"What happened this time? Did you get pulled into it or was it some bullies that you just had to provoke, again?" Raph cringed when I placed the cotton pad with rubbing alcohol on his arm and tried to pull away, grabbed my wrist and tried to pull my hand from his arm, but I just slapped his hand away from me.

"Ugh, no. I was provoked by a kid in the lunch line. I snapped and attacked before I could think." I shook my head and groaned in frustration. I got out a new cotton pad, dripped more rubbing alcohol on it and pressed it onto Raph's wound, rather hard. Raph hissed in pain and pulled away from me.

"OW! What the hell, Donnie! Why the fuck did you do that?!" I slapped him on the arm and put on the most angry face I could manage, put both hands at my sides.

"Raph, you promised that you would stop fighting! You promised to try and behave in school, remember? Does that suddenly mean nothing to you?" I felt slightly betrayed by this. Raph had promised when he got kicked out of his old school that he would try to stop fighting with his classmates and try to behave. And now, less than two weeks into the new school year, he had started a fight! Raph sighed and tried to put his arm around me, but I shook it off and moved away from him.

"Donnie I... I'm sorry, okay? I know I promised to try, but I can't change just like that. You know how I work, bro. I don't think things through like you do. But I'm trying, I really am trying to change. Please forgive me?" I turned towards him with a doubtful look and a raised eyebrow. He looked regretful and sincere, but I felt like he was just playing the guilt card on me because I usually bought it when I was a kid, so I decided not to forgive him immediately like I usually did.

"Yeah? How do I know you're _really_ trying? How do I know that you're not just saying that cuz you know I will forgive you? I need a little more than that, bro." Raph sighed, lowered his ice pack and put his hand over his face. He rubbed his fingers over his good eye and I could see that he tried to think of something to say. I turned back to the movie that was still playing in the background and focused on that instead. As I focused on the movie I felt Raph wrap his arm around my shoulders and pulled me close to him. But I still adamantly refused to look at him.

"Finding Nemo, huh? That's a good movie, right?" I shrugged and remained focused on the TV screen. I wasn't going to budge until he made an effort to convince me that he was trying. It wasn't just for the promise he had made, but also because he got hurt every single time he was in a fight. And I hated to see my big brother hurt.

"It's okay, I guess." Raph pressed his nose into the side of my face and nuzzled into my temple. I tried to pull away, but he just held me tighter. I wanted to get away from my brother, but it was no use. Raph was both bigger and stronger than me and held me in a pretty tight grip.

"Oh, come on, Donnie. I understand that you're mad at me, but I don't know how to prove that I meant what I promised before. I mean, I'm not good with words and I'm not exactly that good at showing how I feel and stuff. You gotta give some kinda clue." I groaned inwardly and finally managed to pull away from his tight hold on me.

"It's not just about your promise, Raph! What if you had gotten seriously hurt today? What if you have to go to the hospital one day ? What if you got slammed into a locker and broke your neck?!" I had to take a deep breath to stop myself from crying. "What if I lose you one day, because you fight with the other students," I suppressed a sob. "or with Dad?" I felt a few tears fall from my eyes and I couldn't hold it back anymore. I buried my face in my hands and started to cry. I heard Raph sigh again and felt his arm wrap around my back, pull me into his chest and hug me close to him. While I sobbed into Raph's shirt, I felt him stroke my hair and whisper comforting words in my ear.

"Oh, Donnie, Donnie, Donnie..." He didn't say very much for a while, he just let me cry into his chest and stroked my hair while I did. After a few minutes he squeezed me closer to him and nuzzled his nose into my hair.

"Donnie, I understand that you're scared. Our father is abusive, is never home and makes our mother do the same, although she doesn't beat us. We have a really crappy situation, little bro. But, at the same time, you can't let them get to you. You and I are a team and we only have each other; if we let them get to us then they have won and we're down on our knees before them. We have to keep fighting. One day, I'll be eighteen and I'll be able to get my own place. And when that day comes, I will take us both out of this city and we'll start over. It'll be just the two of us and we won't have to care about them anymore." As he spoke, my sobs subsided; what he said was a good comfort. Someday, it'll be just the two of us and we never have to think about mom or dad ever again. I looked up from Raph's chest at his face.

"But Raph, what about you always putting up a fight with everyone that angers you? What if they send you to some youth detention center or something? What if they take you away from me? Then what'll I do? I can't handle Dad on my own, you know that!" I knew I still had tears in my eyes. And Raph saw that, and he raised his hand to my face and dried my eyes and cheeks before he pulled me into his chest again, letting me bury my face into his shirt.

"No, that will never happen, bro. I won't let it. Besides, Dad would most likely bribe them to release me. He needs me, and both he and I know that. I know I have to try and behave, but I'll never let him or anyone else get the best of me. I'll never stop fighting to get us both away from Dad and our horrible lives. And I promise you, nothing and no one's gonna tear us apart. I promise." I nodded into his chest and nuzzled my face into his shirt, letting him hug me tighter. When we pulled away I dried away the last of my tears and smiled.

"Thanks, Raph. You're the best!" He smirked at me and punched me playfully on the shoulder before he placed both hands behind his head and leaned back against the couch.

"Yeah, I know that, bro." I rolled my eyes at him, slapped him on the arm and turned off the TV. No matter what mood I was in, Raph always managed to get me to smile. In one way or another. Raph then placed his hand on my forehead for a few seconds and when he pulled away, he smiled.

"No fever. And you seem to feel a lot better. How do you feel?" I smiled and I was glad Raph had started to talk about something else, something other than Dad.

"Much better! I think I can go to school tomorrow, if I take it easy." Raph smiled in relief, ruffled my hair and placed his arm around me.

"I'm really glad to hear that, kid." He then got up from the couch and walked over to the kitchen. "Are you hungry?" I shook my head and grabbed an apple from the fruit bowl on the coffee table.

"Nah, I'm good. I ate a little just before you got home. I'll settle with some fruit." Raph nodded and prepared a sandwich for himself and poured a glass with milk before he walked over to the couch again and sat down beside me. He turned the TV on again and looked through the channels to find something to watch, while I wasn't really that interested in watching anymore TV today. I had watched TV all day and I wanted to do something else now. I walked over to the bookshelves and tried to find something to read. After looking through the books on the shelves I picked one out and sat back down on the couch. Raph glanced at the cover and raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"'Carrie'? What kinda name for a book is that? And what's with the girl on the cover?" I looked up and showed him the black cover depicting a blonde girl covered in blood and with a weird look in her eyes.

"It's one of my favorites. It's about a girl being abused and bullied by the her classmates and her mother, and later finds out she has telekinetic powers." Raph frowned and then shrugged and looked back at the TV.

"Doesn't sound that great. But I guess everybody is entitled to their own opinion." I shrugged and started to read the book, tuning out the sounds from the TV so I could focus on what was happening in the book.

Later, after we had eaten dinner together, I walked into my room to do some studying so I could catch up on the things I had missed in school the past week. I had talked to April and she had told me about what I had missed and what I had to do to catch up. It wasn't much; I had to study for a math test that would be in a few weeks, practice French grammar for a test, and study for a history test that would also be in a few weeks.

I decided to look through the history books and study about the American Civil War before I went to bed. Raph had told me he was going to start writing an essay and didn't want to be disturbed. I looked through the book and wrote down notes every other second. I was good at learning, but I prefered science and math before history.

I glanced at the clock on the wall and it showed 21:14; I realized I had been studying for an hour and a half. Closing my book and notebooks before putting them back down in my duffle bag, I walked off to the bathroom, took a quick shower and brushed my teeth. I walked up to Raph's door and knocked gently.

"Yeah? What is it, Donnie?" I could hear that he was tired and frustrated and I knew better than to disturb him now.

"I just wanted to say I'm going to bed now. Maybe you should too, bro. But, good night anyway." Raph muttered a 'good night' back and I took that as my cue to leave. I walked into my room, took off my clothes and dressed into my pajamas, a purple long-sleeved shirt and grey sweat pants, and then sat down on the mattress. I took my phone and set the alarm on 7:00 and then lay down under the covers, shifted around to make myself comfortable and then fell asleep.

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**A/N: Done! And I'll update after two weeks, so I hope you'll be there when I get back from my vacation! Hope you enjoyed this chapter and please review, favorite and follow! G'night everybody!**


	5. Chapter 5, Bad Day

Brotherly Bonds

**A/N: "*singing* Guess who's back, back again. This girl's back, tell a friend."  
****Hello, my dear readers and fellow TMNT fans, I'm back again! Sorry it took so long for me to update, but as I told you, I've been on vacation in Greece the past two weeks, plus I've had a few things to the last few days. I've had wash my vacation clothes, clean my room and a bunch of other stuff, so yeah...  
**

**But, here I am, back again and I hope I will be able to update ****regularly now that I have nothing planned for the summer. I hope you will be there and read my stories during the summer! I have a few new ideas for new stories and I hope you will check out my poll for those ideas.**

**Hope you'll enjoy this chapter and please review, favorite and follow!**

* * *

Chapter 5, A bad day

(Donnie's P.O.V)

I groaned slightly as I heard the alarm on my cellphone going off, and for a few seconds I tried to go back to sleep, regardless of the irritating noise. I reached for my iPhone and even though my eyes were closed, I managed to turn off the alarm and my room got quiet again. I sat up and stretched my arms and back, yawning, and then slowly got out of bed.

I walked over to my dresser and, because I was still tired, clumsily pulled off my pajamas and pulled out a pair of jeans, a black t-shirt and my purple hoodie. Taking a look in the mirror, I noted that my hair was a tousled mess, like it always was when I woke up. I quickly brushed through it and tied it into a ponytail. I sniffed and detected the scent of toast and fried eggs, so I knew that Mom was home this morning.

I ran down into the corridor and walked into the kitchen and saw that Mom had set the table for two, including two plates with toast and ham, fried eggs and a glass of juice, placed at Raph's and my seats. Mom was running around, placing forks and knives at the sides of the plates, and every other second looking at the clock over the stove. She seemed to be in quite a hurry this morning, even more so than usual. She looked up and saw me standing in the doorway and smiled stiffly at me.

"Oh, Donnie? Good morning, sweetheart!" She walked up and hugged me. "Good thing that you woke up now, then you can eat while it's still hot. I have to go now, but I'll be home in time for dinner tonight. Okay?" After I had processed she said I nodded, but I didn't smile back at her. Mom smiled at me, grabbed my face between her hands and kissed my forehead.

"Say good morning to Raph for me, honey! Now, I have to go. Goodbye!" And then I was left alone in the kitchen, sighing heavily. I know I probably should be used to our mom ditching us almost every day, but I still felt so unloved every time she left us like this. In fact, if I didn't have Raph, I probably would've felt completely rejected and unwanted. I sat down at the table and started to eat the toast with ham, sparing a glance at the clock. 7:15. Raph would probably wake up any second now, but I was slightly worried that he was going to oversleep if I didn't wake him up. He had been so busy with biology last night, it was possible that he had forgotten to set an alarm for this morning.

After I finished my breakfast I looked at the clock again and saw we only had about half an hour before we had to go so we wouldn't be late for school. I got up from my chair and made my way towards Raph's room, placing my ear against his door and hearing a loud snore. I shook my head and walked in. What I saw when I entered was both surprising and a bit humorous.

Raph was lying on his desk with his head placed on his folded arms; a string of saliva hung out of his mouth and his snores were loud enough to shake the entire apartment. In front of him was a thick biology book and his still-active laptop.

I snickered to myself and walked up to the desk, and I saw that Raph's laptop was still active because of the charge cord, so I saved Raph's work for him, shut off the laptop, and gathered up Raph's books and pens and placed them in his bag so he wouldn't have to do it himself. After all that was done I placed my hand on my older brother's shoulder and shook him and whispered gently but firmly into his ear to try and wake him.

"Raph? Raph, wake up, bro! We'll be late for school." I tried to shake him a little harder, but Raph just raised his hand and pushed me away, making me stumble and fall to the floor. I grumbled to myself and tried to think of some other way to wake him up. My eyes fell on the tank beside Raph's dresser and I watched as Raph's pet turtle Spike ate the lettuce Raph had given him last night. I got an idea and walked up to the tank, taking Spike's water bowl- that was still more than half full. Spike eyed me curiously and I smiled sheepishly at the him in reply.

"Sorry, Spike. I'll get you some more water in a minute. I just have to borrow this bowl for a second." I walked up to Raph and kneeled down beside his chair, tensing the muscles in my legs, getting ready to jump out of the way of a raging Raph, and then splashed the water directly on Raph's face.

As expected, Raph flew up from the desk and wiped at his face while spluttering to get the water out of his eyes, nose and mouth. I jumped out of the way of his flailing arms and placed my hand over my mouth so I wouldn't laugh at him, but a quiet giggle managed to slip out. He clearly heard that and looked at me with newly awakened and wild eyes, a fearsome glare settling upon his features.

"Donnie! What the hell did you do that for? I'm trying to study here! And didn't you say you were going to bed?" I frowned a little. Raph seemed to think that it was still yesterday and that he was studying. I placed Spike's water bowl on the desk and walked up to him, wiped his face with the sleeve of my hoodie. He squirmed and tried to push me away, but I managed to dry his face anyway.

"Raph, you fell asleep while studying last night and you didn't set the alarm. It's 7:30 in the morning and if you don't hurry, you'll be late for school." I explained calmly. That seemed to do the trick, because Raph snapped his head towards his digital clock on the bedside table, was frozen to the floor for a second, and then flew up from his chair and ran up to the dresser. He quickly threw off his now wet clothes and pulled out his dark blue jeans, a red t-shirt and his black leather jacket, and put them on. In less than ten seconds.

"Shit! Why didn't you wake me up earlier?! How am I supposed to get ready in less than thirty minutes? I'll never make it! And what about my essay? I didn't save it! I'll have to-!" I walked up to him just as he combed through his slightly wet and spiky hair and placed my hands on both sides of his face, making him look me in the eyes.

"Raph, take a breath, calm yourself, and listen to me. I saved your work for you before I turned off the computer. Everything you've done is saved, you won't have to do it all over again. Now, Mom made us breakfast before she went to work, and your food is still on the table. You go and eat up and get yourself ready. I'll make sure you have everything you need packed in your bags and give Spike his food and water. I always make sure my things are packed and done before I go to bed, so I'm good. Sound like a plan?" I made sure to speak slowly and with a calm voice, and Raph did relax while I talked, so I guess it worked pretty well. My older brother closed his eyes, took a deep breath through his nose and placed his arms around my shoulders, hugging me close. He sighed in relief.

"Donatello, you are a lifesaver, you know that? What would I do without you, little bro?" I smiled and pushed him towards the door once he let go of me.

"You'd be in a lot more trouble than you're worth. Now, go and get ready for school! I'll handle your things." Raph nodded and ran out to the kitchen. I shook my head with a smile, took Spike's water bowl, walked into the bathroom and filled it with cool, clean water before I placed it back in the tank.

Raph might be a bit older than me, and he might be the one taking care of me most of the time, but the truth is (even though Raph will always be too proud to admit it) that he needs me just as much I need him.

Raph's so hotheaded and impulsive that he doesn't always think things through before he acts. He needs my logic and levelheaded thoughts just like I need his strength and unbreakable spirit.

I looked at the schedule Raph had taped up on the wall and determined which subjects he had today. Algebra, geography, history, gym class and biology. I looked through Raph's bag and saw that he had his algebra book and biology book already there, and when I couldn't find the other books in his room, I assumed Raph had those books in his locker. I found his gym uniform, packed it down in his gym bag and looked around the room. When I looked a few times I thought that I had remembered everything he needed. Raph always had his money in his bag, so his wallet had to be there, along with the keys to his motorcycle. I ran out into the kitchen, grabbed some lettuce and pieces of sliced tomatoes from last night's dinner and ran back to give the vegetables to Spike.

After I was done with everything in Raph's room, I ran into my own room and grabbed my own bag along with Raph's, ran out into hall and left the bags at the door before I ran to brush my teeth. Raph was just leaving when I came running into bathroom, and I saw he was also getting a little stressed. I quickly completed my task, ran back out into the hallway and saw Raph putting on his sneakers, so I crouched down and pulled on my converse, grabbed my duffle bag, threw it over my shoulder and stood up just as Raph opened the door and almost pushed me through it, closing and locking it behind us. We ran to the elevator, (and I swear I almost died on the way down, it took so long for it to get to the bottom level) and when we got down to the garage, Raph flew up on his motorcycle, threw my helmet at me and put on his own as the engine started to roar.

"Come on, Donnie! We have to hurry!" I sat down beside him and barely had time to wrap my arms around his waist before he started to drive, and fast. Raph was usually careful so he would go only slightly over the speed limit, but today I was sure he went way too fast. But he seemed to do fine since no one stopped us until Raph stopped in front of my school. I had ten minutes to spare, so I had to hurry. I threw off my helmet, put it down in my bag, said a quick goodbye to Raph before I started to run towards the school.

"Hey, Donnie!" I groaned inwardly and turned around towards Raph again. He smirked at me. "Thanks, Dude! I owe you one!" I didn't have time to respond before Raph drove off again and disappeared down the street. I shook my head at my brother's behaviour and rolled my eyes, running once more towards the school building to avoid being tardy. I ran through the corridor even though I knew that I shouldn't since the teachers and the principal kept telling us that we could get hurt if we committed such an act. I managed to get to my classroom just in time before the lesson was about to start. My math teacher, Mr. Honeycutt, stood at the whiteboard and was about to start talking when I ran in and sat down at my desk.

"I'm sorry I'm late, Mr. Honeycutt." Said teacher smiled at me, put down the book that had been tucked under his arm and shook his head at me, his smile never fading.

"Donatello, you are not even a minute late. You don't have to worry, my boy." He ticked something in his papers and I assumed that he had marked my presence here today. He looked up and smiled at me again. "Oh, and I'm glad to see you back in class again. I hope you won't have problems catching up with what we've worked on so far." I smiled and finally allowed myself to relax.

"No, I think I'll manage." He nodded, then turned towards the whiteboard again and started to write up some math problems and started his explanation on how to solve them correctly. I listened with interest, but a few minutes into the lecture I felt something light hit me in the back of the head. I looked down at the floor and saw a bit of crumpled paper that had landed at my feet. I bent down and as quietly as possible I unfolded the paper to see if it was a note or just a piece of paper somebody had thrown at me. It wasn't a note, so I assumed it was just somebody who had tried- and, in my humble opinion, FAILED- to be funny.

I put the paper down in my pocket and turned around when the teacher wasn't looking at us, and I tried to see who had thrown it at me. My eyes fell on a tall boy with black hair and a black and white bandana tied around his head and who looked like he had been held back at least a year, because he looked like he was around fifteen. He looked like he came from a relatively poor family since he was dressed in dirty and tattered clothes: a dark red shirt, a tattered grey t-shirt over it and a black ripped vest over both shirts. He also wore grey pants that also looked pretty tattered and black sneakers, and all of these clothes looked like they were either old, secondhand or had never been washed. I knew the guy, it was Casey Jones; a cocky, arrogant jock. He had bullied me ever since I was moved into his and April's class. He smiled threateningly at me at hit his fist into his hand, making me shudder, so I turned around and tried to listen to Mr. Honeycutt.

After the lesson was over, I hurried to get to my next class and I didn't even think of waiting for April. I fingered the strap of my duffle bag and tried to think of other things than the crumpled piece of paper. Suddenly I felt someone grab my shoulder and drag me into the boys' bathroom. I was thrown up against the wall and pinned down by strong hands. The boy I had seen in the classroom earlier looked down at me with dark, threatening eyes and he had a pocketknife clutched in his hand.

"Hello, Donatello. It's so great to see you, it's been so long since I saw you last. I would just _love_ to hang out with you a bit more. My way, of course." He held the pocketknife close to my throat. I knew that Casey had a habit of breaking school rules and starting fights, and I have to admit, I was scared. But not as scared as I had been when I heard Dad beat up Raph a few days ago. I swallowed and tried to put on a brave face.

"Yeah? Well I don't! Now, leave me alone or I'll tell the principal that you-!" He slammed me against the wall and put the blade of the knife so close to my throat that I felt the sharp edge whispering against the sensitive skin.

"You aren't gonna tell anyone anything. I've noticed that you're very close to April O'Neil, that you're friends with her. I just want you to know to stay away from her! She's my girl, and I don't want you anywhere near her. Got it?" I nodded, even though I didn't want to. I didn't want any trouble. The boy nodded, smirked wickedly at me

"Good, 'cuz if you don't, you're history..." He punched me in the gut and then left the bathroom, leaving me on the floor with a bruise forming on my upper stomach. I wanted to cry, but I knew that would get me nowhere. If I wanted to grow up and become independent someday, I would have to act like it and not cry like a baby. I guess I could tell Raph and he could help me, but I wanted to be able to fight these battles myself. Besides, Raph might get in trouble for it. Or go too far and really hurt the kid, or worse. No! I had to manage this on my own. I just _had_ to!

Lunch came sooner than I liked and I didn't know how I felt about talking to April and Mikey today. I stood in line to get food when I saw April and Mikey walk into the cafeteria and I hoped that they wouldn't see me. I grabbed a piece of pizza with pepperoni, a plate with carrot and cucumber sticks and a cartoon of milk. I payed for the food and hurried over to a table so I could be alone for a while before April found me. I wasn't sure if Mikey would sit with me, but I knew April would since we were really good friends. I nibbled on a carrot stick and thought over my situation. It looks like I've gotten a bully on my tail, just to add another bad thing to this bad day.

I looked up and saw April walk over to me with Mikey behind her.

"Hi, Donnie!" I smiled at Mikey, who sat down beside me and wrapped his arm around my neck. I had only known this kid for a short time but he seemed to think we were best friends. Not that I minded, he was a great guy. April sat down in front of me and she didn't look quite as happy.

"Why didn't you wait for me after class? Why didn't you want to talk to me?" I shrugged and looked down at my pizza. But before I could answer I saw a familiar face approaching. Casey walked over to our table, ignoring me and instead looking at April with an attempted 'charming' smile, trying to place his arm around her.

"Hey, Sweetheart. A pretty girl like you shouldn't be sitting here with a bunch of losers. Why don't you come with me and sit with the cool kids? Whaddaya say?" April narrowed her eyes at him, pushed him away and stood up.

"No, Casey! Do I have to say this every day? I am not interested in becoming your girlfriend, so stay away from me! And these guys are not losers, they are my friends! So back off!" Casey narrowed his eyes at me punched his fist into his hand again. Without another word he turned around and walked away, back to his own table. Mikey looked at me and placed his hand on my shoulder.

"Dude, why do you look so scared? Is he always this mean to you?" I looked down at my feet and refused to look at my friends. April reached over the table and grabbed my hand and held it gently.

"Donnie, we're your friends, you can tell us. We won't tell anyone if you don't want us to." I sighed and then hesitantly started to tell them about how Casey had threatened me about April and what he had said he would do if I didn't obey. April looked enraged and held my hand even tighter.

"Donnie, you should probably tell Raph. You know he'll help you and-" I shook my head, pulled my hand away from her and crossed my arms over my chest.

"No! If I tell Raph, then he might hurt Casey. Like, hurt him so bad he'll put him in a hospital. And besides, I want to learn to fight off bullies on my own, without having to to cry to my big brother for help. He's fought my battles for me ever since I was born and I want to be able to handle myself." April nodded and glared in Casey's direction before she stood up and walked to him. Mikey sat beside me and hugged me.

"I'm sorry you're being bullied." I nodded and half-heartedly returned the hug.

"Thanks, Mikey." Mikey sat up and smiled at me with sparkling eyes and his smile almost reached his ears.

"Hey, you wanna go out and grab a pizza or something this weekend? Get your mind off things here in school? What do you say?" I thought about it. Raph and I hadn't made any plans for this weekend, and I had money to no end so I didn't see why I couldn't. So I smiled back and nodded.

"Sure, why not? I could use some time away from home and school." Mikey grinned back at me and hugged me again.

"Great!" He let me go, reached into my pocket and grabbed my iPhone. After a bit of mixing with my phone he showed me that he had put his number in my phone. He then gave me his phone and told me to do the same. After I had put my own number into his phone he took his phone back.

"Awesome! I'll call you after school and we'll decide something, okay?" I nodded, turned back to my pizza and started to eat with a better appetite. April came back a few minutes later and started to eat her tuna salad. Mikey ate up his own pizza in less than than twenty seconds but was nice enough to wait for us to finish our own food and was more than willing to talk to us. He talked about a lot of things, pizza, strange dreams about beavers in a candy world or pizza eating calzone and how impossible school was.

"I mean, how am I supposed to understand math anyway? It's not like everybody is going to be good at math in the world! Why can't I just have more art class instead of math class? That way I can at least get a career in something, right?" I swallowed down the last bit of pizza, smiled at my friend and placed my hand over his mouth.

"Do you ever stop talking?" I said, but with a teasing smile, so Mikey just rolled his eyes and pulled away from my hand. The smile that seemed to be permanently glued to his face never faded and that combined with the big blue eyes and the freckles on his cheeks made him look so much younger than he was. April excused herself, stood up and left the table and walked towards the girls bathroom. Mikey looked at the clock and stood up too, gathered up his things and said he had to go to his next class. I nodded, waved him goodbye and then quickly finished my own lunch.

* * *

(Raph's P.O.V)

It was official. This had been one of the lousiest days I had been put through in a long time. As if oversleeping and coming late to my algebra class wasn't bad enough, my algebra teacher had given us a surprise test that I pretty much flunked, I got into a fight with Hun when we played football during phys. ed today, my lunch detention of course, and I also thought that I was being stalked throughout the day. A new girl had started in our school today and she seemed to stare at me all the time. She looked like she was at least seventeen or at least a little older than me. She had short black hair that was also dyed a little blonde at back of her head, red lipstick and black eyeliner around her amber eyes. She was dressed in dark blue tattered jeans, a black and brown jacket with spikes and a black, skin tight tank top. She didn't scare me, but her eyes were unsettling and something about her told me that she was bad news.

"Good thing she's not in my class." I muttered to myself as I nibbled on my hamburger. It was lunch and to me, it couldn't have come sooner. So many bad things had happened today and the school day wasn't over yet. I tried to eat, but my appetite was gone.

"Huh? What was that?" Leo asked as he looked up from his spaghetti and meat sauce and looked at me with questioning eyes. Since Leo and I had more or less made amends we had started to talk a bit and we had started to, more or less, become friends. And it was a good thing, or else this day would've been even tougher since Mona Lisa was sick today. I sighed and leaned in close to Leo and pointed to the girl with my fork as discreetly as I could.

"That girl's been following me and staring at me the entire day. I don't know why, but I feel like she's bad news. And trust me on this, I know when people are bad news." Leo looked at the girl and nodded slightly.

"Yeah, I have to admit she is rather unsettling, isn't she? I overheard her talking to Mrs. Woods, you know, the geography teacher? I think her name is Karai but other than that I don't know anything about her." I nodded and turned back to my food. I managed to eat up my hamburger but afterwards I felt sick and wanted nothing more than to throw it up again. Leo put his hand on my shoulder and shook me lightly.

"Come on, we have history class. If we don't go now, we'll be late." I sighed, stood up and walked after Leo towards the classroom. I wanted to ditch my last classes and go home but I knew that if I did Dad would somehow find out about that, and then I would be in trouble. And I only had two more classes for the day, history and biology. I decided that I could handle that. But in the corner of my eye I saw that Karai followed me until I walked into my classroom. The cold glare in her amber eyes sent a shiver down my spine. And I didn't get nervous very easily.

I felt so relieved as I finally got out of the school building when the clock finally rung at 15:00. Leo and I walked out together and we talked about the day.

"I just want this day to be over with already! This is one of the worst days I've been through." Leo nodded understandingly and placed his hand on my shoulder.

"I can understand that. Hey, you wanna go and get some pizza this weekend? You look like you need a time-out." I thought about it. Donnie and I hadn't made up plans for the weekend and I'm sure that he could take care of himself for a few hours. And I hadn't been out of the apartment (except for school) for a few weeks now, maybe I needed to get out of the house. So I nodded.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. I need a break from school and from home. Can you give me your number?" Leo and I gave each other our phones, wrote in our numbers and then took our phones back. Leo waved at me before he started to walk down the street. I sat down on my motorcycle and started to drive towards Donnie's school.

When I got there I saw that Donnie walked out of the school with a blonde kid beside him and I recognised him as that 'new kid' Donnie had told me about after the first day of school. A short blonde kid with blue eyes and freckles on his cheeks; for a second I thought he was around seven or eight instead of around ten or eleven. When Donnie saw me he ran up to me and his friend followed him.

"Hey, Raph!" I smiled as my brother hugged me around the neck and even though I rarely showed this kind of affection in the public, I placed my arm around his back and rolled my eyes regardless of whether or not he could see it. When he pulled away, Donnie gestured towards his friend.

"Raph, this is Mikey, my new friend. I told you about him awhile back. Mikey, this is Raph, my big brother that I told you about." I nodded at Mikey, and he waved at me with a wide grin. He had a skateboard under his arm.

"Hey, dude! Donnie's told me a lot about you." I smirked at him and then at Donnie.

"Oh, really? Is that so?" Donnie lost his smile and then pushed me in the shoulder and looked down at the sidewalk.

"Oh, shut up." I shook my head with a small laugh and looked back at Mikey. Before I could say anything in response, I was interrupted by a familiar voice.

"Mikey!" Donnie and I looked in the direction Mikey turned towards and I saw Leo walk up to us. Mikey smiled, ran up to him and threw his arms around Leo and almost knocked him to the ground. Leo shook his head with a smile and hugged him back. He looked up at me and smiled.

"I guess you were right, Raph. Our brothers go to the same school." I nodded and placed my arm around Donnie, pulled him close to me. Leo stretched out his hand towards Donnie (with a little difficulty since Mikey had him in a tight hug) and smiled.

"Hi! My name is Leonardo. You can call me Leo." Donnie smiled, took Leo's hand and shook it politely.

"Donatello, but call me Donnie if you'd like." Leo smiled at him and I tightened my grip around Donnie. Mikey let go of Leo, placed his skateboard on the sidewalk and placed one foot on it. He looked at Donnie and waved.

"I'll call you tonight about our plans for the weekend, dude." Donnie nodded and I got curious. Donnie rarely did things with the few friends he had, and if he did, it was mostly because I more or less forced him to do it, so he wouldn't be alone at home all the time.

"What do you guys plan to do?" Leo asked and ran his fingers through Mikey's curly hair, laughing when Mikey bat his hand away. Donnie smiled and pushed his bangs out of his face.

"Well, Mikey and I planned on going out to eat some pizza this weekend. But we haven't decided when or where yet." Leo and I looked at each other and nodded in a silent understanding. Leo placed his arm around Mikey's shoulders.

"Mind if we tag along? We planned on going out to eat pizza this weekend too." Mikey and Donnie looked at each other, nodded, and then Mikey turned back to Leo.

"Sure, bro! It'll be fun!" So we decided to talk about the details a little later tonight and with that, we walked off in different directions. Mikey and Leo walked up the street and then turned to the right and Donnie jumped onto my motorcycle and we drove off. I was a bit happy now that something good had come out of this terrible day.

When we got home, Donnie took off his hoodie, threw it on the floor, walked up to the couch and faceplanted onto the soft pillows with a loud, dramatic groan. I looked at him with a small smirk and placed my hand on his back.

"I take it you didn't have such a great day either, huh?" Donnie shook his head into the pillows and groaned again, although now it sounded a bit muffled. I sat down beside his head, lifted it, turned him around so he lay on his back and put his head in my lap, stroking his hair out of his face.

"Yeah, well thanks to you I didn't come more than five minutes late to school. If you hadn't woken me up and helped me gather up my things, I probably would've had a worse day than I did. So thanks, man." Donnie looked up at me smiled.

"That's what I'm here for. To help you, just as you're helping me" I nodded. I looked down at Donnie, who now had his eyes closed.

"So, how was school? You said you had a bad day?" Donnie looked up at me for a second and then bit his lip, blushing lightly.

"Eh, I don't want to talk about it." I was slightly taken aback. Donnie usually told me everything about school, and even if he didn't, he told me why. He never said that he didn't want to talk about it, let alone blush. Ah, must have something to do with April. He did have a bit of a soft spot for her.

"Come on, tell me." I said with a teasing smirk. Donnie sat up, crossed his arms over his chest and shook his head firmly with his eyes closed.

"No. I won't." I knew that trying to get him to talk would only seal his lips tighter, so I had to come up with another tactic. I smirked as an evil idea came into my head. I scooted closer to Donnie and wiggled my fingers discretely, so he wouldn't see and run away.

"I think I know a way to get you to talk." I said and placed my hand a few inches over his belly. Donnie snapped his eyes open, looked down at my hands, seemed to realize what I meant and tried to get away. Too late. I managed to grab him around the waist, threw him back onto the couch, pinned him down with my knees and started to tickle him over his belly and his sides. Donnie shrieked with laughter, squirming like a worm as he tried to push away my hands while also kicking his legs to try and get away.

"Haha, no, please stop, haha, I'm dying!" I laughed and just ignored his pleas and kept on tickling him.

"Then tell me your little secret. Tell me, tell me, tell me!" Donnie laughed so hard I saw tears forming in his eyes and his energy seemed to drain away; he had stopped kicking his legs and he had stopped trying to push my hands away . He just tried to squirm away, though not as much as before, but he still shook his head. But then, I guess I made a mistake. I was going for the kill and pushed my fingers harder into his stomach but Donnie didn't laugh this time. He flew up from the couch, had his eyes shut and hugged his stomach.

"OW!" I jumped back as Donnie flew up from the couch and was surprised, to say the least. Donnie sat on his knees and rubbed his stomach, just below the ribs. I slapped away his hands, pulled up his black t-shirt and paled at the sight. A big black and blue bruise had formed on his upper stomach and I could tell it hurt pretty badly when I gently touched it and Donnie responded with a hiss of pain, which he also tried to suppress, but failed miserably. I let go of his shirt, grabbed Donnie firmly by the shoulders and looked him straight in the eye.

"Who did this? Who hurt you?" Donnie looked down at the floor and bit his lip. I knew that look; it meant that he refused to tell me what happened at school today. I tightened my grip on him and shook him to get his attention. I didn't even realize that I raised my voice way more than was necessary.

"Who has hurt you?! Tell me!" Donnie flinched a little when I yelled at him and looked down at the floor, bit his lip a little harder and shut his eyes even tighter. He clenched his hands into fists and I saw tears manage to fall from his closed eyes. Then, with strength I didn't know he had, he shook off my hands and ran for his room. I was quick to follow him, but I was a second too late as Donnie slammed the door to his room in my face and locked it before I could open it again. I knocked loudly on the door and tried to open it even though I knew it was locked.

"Donnie! Open the goddamn door!" I yelled, partly because I had to or he wouldn't hear me and partly because I was getting angry and annoyed at my little brother. Donnie yelled back at me and I heard he was angry, but I also heard that he was struggling to hold back sobs.

"NO! Go away Raph, leave me alone!" I heard quiet, muffled sobs and I assumed he was sobbing into a pillow. My glare softened and I placed my ear against the door. Guilt washed over me and my anger disappeared instantly when I fully realized that he was crying. I had made Donnie cry. _I_ had made my _baby_ _brother_ cry. I hadn't even realized how angry I had sounded before and I knew that Donnie hated it when I got angry at him. It just reminded him of our father. I rubbed my hand over my face and sighed heavilly.

I thought over whether it was better to leave him alone for now or to comfort him. I decided it was a better idea to leave him alone for a bit and then see if he let me in. I entered my own room, closed the door and walked up to Spike, my box turtle. He was eating a slice of tomato that I assumed Donnie had given him this morning.

I knelt down on the floor, placed my elbows on the table the tank was standing on, rested my chin on my arm and watched Spike eat. Spike was the only breathing creature I was truly open to. I didn't always open up to Donnie because I needed to be strong for him and that meant I couldn't always say everything to him. I had gotten Spike as a birthday present from Donnie when I turned fourteen. Donnie had ordered the tank and everything that was needed on the internet and had picked the turtle out himself from the pet store. Remember how I said he was mature and smart for his age? Well, there's your proof. Spike stopped eating his tomato and looked at me with curious eyes.

"Hey, Spike. I guess Donnie gave you some good stuff to eat today? That's good." I looked at the turtle, stood up and picked him up, carefully placing him on the floor. Spike looked around the room for a second and then started to slowly walk around. I lay down on the carpet and watched him.

"I don't know, Spike, maybe I'm losing my grip on Donnie. I mean, I know he can make his own choices and live his own life, but still. I thought that he trusted me, I thought that he told me everything that bothered him. But what if he doesn't? What if he's hiding things from me? I'm not asking to know _every single_ thing that happens to Donnie during school and not even everything that happens to him in general, but if somebody is hurting Donnie during school I would like to know about that and help him in every way I can. Is that so wrong?" Spike eyed me tiredly and I bit my lip.

"Yeah, maybe I'm being a bit possessive and overprotective, and it's not like Donnie's helpless or hopeless when it comes to taking care of himself, but he's still a kid. And it's not like Mom or Dad will be there for him when I grow up and move away. I can't leave him here all alone with a mom and dad that don't take care of him! I just can't! But I never meant to lose my temper and make him cry! I love him and I just want him to feel happy and safe. That's all I want." I sighed, grabbed my turtle, turned over onto my back and placed him on my stomach. Spike looked down at me and opened his mouth in what could be seen as a smile. I smiled back and patted his shell.

"I should probably go and apologize to him, right?" Spike just looked me in the eyes and that was all I needed. I stroked my finger tenderly over his head. "Thanks, buddy. It's great to have somebody who listens to me. And who understands." I grabbed Spike again, stood up and put him back down in his tank. I patted him on the shell again and then left my room. I walked out towards the hallway to grab my bag but stopped in front of Donnie's door. It was still closed, but I couldn't hear any crying from inside so I assumed he felt better now. I walked up to the door and knocked gently with two fingers.

"Donnie, can I come in?" I was met with silence for a few seconds. Then after a while I heard a click that indicated that the door was unlocked. I waited a few seconds to not seem like I just wanted to rush into his room and then opened the door and walked in. Donnie was lying on his bed and rested his face on his crossed arms. I smiled gently and sat down beside him on the mattress. Donnie buried his face deeper in his arms and drew in a deep and shaky breath. I placed my hand on his back.

"Hey, are you okay, little bro?" Donnie didn't answer. He just looked down at his pillow and refused to look up. I took a deep breath and counted to ten in my head. I had to stay calm. I rubbed my hand over his back and tried to be gentle. Donnie tensed a bit at my touch.

"Donnie I... I'm so, _so_ sorry that I yelled at you before. I didn't mean to lose my temper with you before; I just wanted to help you. I just wanted to do what I could to help you, not the other way around! My only excuse is that I've had a really bad day today and I took out all my anger and frustration on you. I know you hate it when I yell at you and I can't tell you how sorry I am for that. It's not a great excuse, I know, and I don't blame you if you hate me right now, but please Donnie, please forgive me, bro." Donnie peeked up from his arms and looked at me with wet eyes. I had heard that my voice had cracked when I talked so I guessed that was what had caught his attention. I tried to look remorseful, and I guess I pulled it off pretty well. Donnie sat up and wrapped his arms around my neck and nuzzled his face into my shirt.

"You look like a kicked puppy, dude. I can't reject an apology from you when you look at me like that." I felt a lump form in my throat and wrapped my arms around Donnie's shoulders and hugged him tightly to my chest. I felt tears sting in my eyes and I had to blink several times in order to get rid of them.

"You're too good for me, bro. I don't deserve a brother like you." Donnie laughed, pulled away and dried my eyes with his thumb, smiling at me.

"Maybe you've got a brother like me to help you and to keep you from losing it. You're here to help me and take care of me like the father I don't have and I'm here to keep you from making bad decisions and keep your head on. You know yourself; you're pretty impulsive and hotheaded." I nodded and wrapped my arm around his shoulders and pulled him into my chest.

"Yeah. Yeah, I guess I do know." We sat like that for a while. Donnie wrapped his arms around my waist, leaned his head onto my shoulder and closed his eyes while I kept my arm around my brother's shoulders.

I don't know how long we had been sitting like that when Donnie pulled away from me and wrapped his arms around himself. He was still sitting in in his black t-shirt and I guessed he was cold.

"Come on, it's cold in here. Let's go out into the living room. It's warmer out there." Donnie nodded and we both walked out into the living room. Donnie picked up his discarded hoodie put it back on. I walked up to the fireplace and lit up a nice, warm fire to warm up the room. Usually we didn't light any fires during the spring, summer and early autumn, but it was raining outside now and the sky was darker than it should be in late August. Donnie sat down on the couch again and I joined once I made sure that fire was strong enough to keep burning. We hadn't been sitting there for very long when we heard the door open and I looked at Donnie with confused eyes. Donnie facepalmed and looked at me with eyes that said 'I'm sorry'.

"Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you. Mom said she would be home for dinner tonight. That's probably her coming now." I nodded and looked at the door and saw Mom coming in with two bags of take-away food from her and Father's favorite Japanese restaurant and an extra big pizza box. Donnie stood up and went over to her as she placed the food on the dinner table.

"Mom? Why are we eating take-away? We only eat that when it's a special occasion, so what's the occasion?" Mom looked up at him and smiled excitedly.

"Your father told me he had some exciting news for us and said that I should prepare a celebration. He hasn't told me what it is yet, but he said it was very good news for the company! Now, wold you be a dear and set the table for five people?" I frowned and looked at her, confused. There were four people in this family, not five. So why would she ask Donnie set the table for one more?

"Five? Mom, we're four in the family." She looked at me and then facepalmed. When she looked up she smiled apologetically at me and Donnie.

"Ugh, darn it! It was supposed to be a secret and I spoiled it. Oh well, I guess I should tell you. Your father has adopted a child!" The world froze around me. Donnie got pale and his eyes widened while my jaw dropped to the floor.

"W-what?" Mom didn't seem to notice our reactions and instead took out five dinner plates from one of the cupboards and placed them on the table.

"Oh, yes. He changed one of the guest rooms into a room for her. She's just a little bit older than you, Raphie-boy, and goes to your school now. I'm sure you'll get along perfectly together! And your father believes she'll be a great future CEO for your father's company, isn't that wonderful?" I didn't know what to say. I breathed but I felt like I was suffocating. I was standing but felt like I was falling.

"Excuse me for a second." I managed to choke out before I ran back to my room and closed the door with a loud bang. I threw myself onto my bed and buried my face into my pillow. He had replaced me! I wasn't good enough for my father so he replaced me with a kid from an adoption center! I had struggled my whole life to survive in this world and take care of my brother, too, had done the best I could in school (even if it wasn't that great) and my father had replaced me with some girl he had picked up randomly, from who knows where! I wasn't even mad at the fact that my father didn't want me to take over his company; heck, I couldn't care less about that! It was the fact that I wasn't good enough for him, so he just shoved me aside and picked somebody else, just like that.

"Raph?" I looked up at Donnie, who stood in the doorway, looking worried. "Dad has come with," He hesitated. "that girl, and both he and Mom say you have to come and eat." I could hear in his voice that he was concerned and wanted to talk to me about it, but was also scared of not going to eat. Because now, our father was home. And as I've said before, Donnie both feared and loathed him with a fiery passion. So I sat up and we both walked back out to the kitchen.

What I saw was not what I expected at all. It was the cherry on the top of the sundae of bad things that had happened today. Karai, the girl from school that had basically stalked me the entire day, sat at our table with a plate of masago and white rice covered in soy sauce in front of her. My father walked up to us and dragged Donnie and me over to the table.

"Boys, this is Karai: your older sister from now on." Older sister. Ugh, it was bad enough this girl had to be my sister, but now she was my big sister too. I swallowed down the urge to vomit and reached out my hand for her to shake. But I didn't even try to smile.

"Hello, Karai, nice to meet you. My name is Raphael Saki and this is my younger brother Donatello." Donnie nodded politely towards her and then looked down shyly to stare at the floor. Karai nodded at the both of us and shook my hand, albeit stiffly.

"Yes, Father told me about you two. I look forward to getting to know you better." I nodded back as my brother and I sat in our assigned seats, grabbing a slice of pizza each. Mom and Dad sat down next to each other and we all started to eat in tense and awkward silence. No one said anything for a long time, but I decided to at least try break that silence.

"So... I guess we're going to see each other a lot in school from now on." I muttered towards Karai. Before she could answer, Father answered for her.

"No. I let her go to that school so she could see you and know who her brother was. But I have decided to let her come to work with me and learn how to do the job right. I will teach her. She will become my apprentice." I felt more than betrayed by my so-called 'father'. He had never even tried to teach me the things I needed to know. He had never even tried to shape me into his perfect son. Now he was going to create a perfect daughter instead.

I suddenly didn't feel that hungry anymore. I pushed my plate away and said I felt sick and Mom immediately sent me to my room either so I wouldn't get sicker or so she wouldn't have to watch it happen. I slowly walked to my room and closed the door behind me. I didn't even have the energy to slam the door shut this time.

I lay down on my bed, buried my pounding head into my pillow and pulled the covers over my entire body. I was so angry and hurt and I didn't know what to think. My father had gotten his perfect child, the one that he would teach everything he knew about the company and all she needed to know. She wouldn't go to my school and would probably be with him all the time so I wouldn't have to see her that much, so that was good. But still. I felt like everything I had done all my life was just flushed down the drain.

I heard somebody open my door and close it behind him and then I felt somebody gently pull away the covers from my head and I had to blink a little when I was met with bright light. Donnie looked down on me compassionately and placed his hand on my shoulder.

"Raphie, are you okay?" Raphie. He never called me that except for when he was really scared, worried or concerned, so I guess he was worried about me. I sat up and patted the mattress beside me. Donnie sat down beside me and he moved as close to me as he could. I placed my arm around him and pulled him close.

"Donnie, stay with me tonight, okay? I can't take any more of this stinking day and I want something good to be here with me tonight." I understood that Donnie was confused. It was very rare for me to ask somebody to stay with me for the night, even as a kid, but he nodded and excused himself for a second. He ran back to his room, grabbed his pajamas and came back again. We both changed into our pajamas and got ready for bed early. Donnie crawled as close to me as he could and rested his head on my shoulder and I hugged him close to me

"Raph, are you gonna be okay?" I looked down at Donnie and for a second; he looked and sounded like a little kid. I smiled gently at him nuzzled my face into his hair.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. I just need this day to be over and then I'll be okay. I promise." Donnie nodded and closed his eyes, using my shoulder as his pillow. I smiled down at him, lay my head down on my pillow, ready to fall asleep, but suddenly heard something that caught my attention again.

I heard raised voices from the kitchen and I realized that Mom and Dad were fighting again. I carefully sat up, lay Donnie down on my pillow and sneaked out into the corridor to hear what was being said.

Mom and dad were fighting in the kitchen and from I could tell it was pretty bad this time. Mom was yelling at Father about how he had kicked someone away from him. I assumed they were talking about his company or someone of the workers and I was about to head back to my room again, when my father said something that caught my interest.

"Raphael is nothing more than undisciplined and disrespectful _brat_! You cannot expect me to make him the boss of my life's work, woman!" I froze to the floor and pressed myself closer to the wall so they wouldn't see me and bit my tongue so I wouldn't say make any sound. Mom looked at my father with pleading eyes and her hands clasped.

"Please honey, he's still just a child. You have to give him another chance. He has a good heart I know he has! I'm sure he'll do better in the future if you just help him and encourage him to do better!" Father rolled his eyes, grabbed mom's wrist and twisted it roughly, making her shriek in pain.

"I have waited long enough! He has never once tried to do what I told him to do! It's clear that he only cares about that disgusting little worm he calls little brother! I have tried to mold him into the perfect, future leader, but he fought against me every step of the way! And it's your care and concern for them both that made him soft, loyal to his brother and weak and I will not tolerate anymore of that, do I make myself clear?!" Mom sobbed, strands of her black hair hung in front of her face and she nodded, though I could see she didn't want to. That was all that she managed to do before I heard a sharp slap and a scream from my mother and I realized he had slapped her across the face.

For a second I was worried that Donnie would wake up, but thankfully, when I came back to my room he was still asleep, sleeping like a log and thank goodness for that. I smiled lovingly at him, crawled back in my bed, moved around a little to get comfortable, set the alarm for tomorrow, hugged Donnie close to me again and managed to fall asleep almost instantly.

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**A/N: Pheew! I didn't count on writing a chapter this long! Aren't I nice? I gave you a chapter almost twice as long as usual! This must be a record, for me at least. I really hope you liked this chapter and I am also glad to say that I will also try to update my rewrite of The Winter Storm of My Brother's Heart for those who read and liked that story.**

**As for my ideas for a new story, I will create a poll for that and I would really appreciate it if you check that out and tell me what you think. It's basically the same story line, only two different ways of doing it. So please, check that out too.**

**Hope you enjoyed this chapter and please review, favorite and follow! G'night everybody!**


	6. Chapter 6, Meet Master Splinter

Brotherly Bonds

**A/N: Hello guys, I'm back again! Sorry I'm a so late with this chapter, but I've had so many things to do. I was interviewed for a job (which I sadly didn't get), I've started school (as you know) and I also started a new story and been more inspired to continue with that one. Plus I've had a HUGE case of Writer's Block, meaning I've had no idea what to write in this chapter. **

**And I have also worked on my very first animated music video, with clips from TMNT and with the song 'Carrie' which you can find a on my Youtube channel! So, please make sure to check that out, my youtube name is Kamechan98!**

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Chapter 6, Meet Master Splinter

(Raph's P.O.V)

The first thing I realized when I woke up was that the alarm was going off just a few inches away from my ear. I flew up out of bed and saw that Donnie stood at my bedside, holding the phone in his hand, a satisfied smirk on his face and holding back laughter. I glared at him, shoved the covers away and stood.

"Oh, haha; very funny, Donnie. Why can't you just shake me to wake me like a normal person would?" Donnie giggled, put my phone back down on the bedside table and then shrugged innocently at me. I narrowed my eyes at him. Donnie knew just what to do to annoy me, or get to me.

"I could do that. But where's the fun in that?" I rolled my eyes at him and pushed him towards the door. Donnie was an awesome little brother to have and I wouldn't want him to change at all, but he was still my _little brother_ and that meant he could be really annoying when he wanted to.

"Go and get dressed, Donnie, or I might have to hit you for waking me up like that!" I threatened, raised a clenched fist and mock glared at him. But Donnie knew I was joking and just laughed a little before he left, closing the door behind him. I walked over to my dresser, pulled off the black pajama pants and the red t-shirt I had been sleeping in and dressed myself in a pair of jeans, a black tank top with a picture of Arnold Schwarzenegger as the Terminator and the quote 'Come with me if you want to live' and my trademark black leather jacket. I quickly combed through my spiky hair before I ran out into the kitchen.

I stopped in front of the door, opened it slightly and peeked in to see if anyone was there. I saw a big plate of waffles on the table but no one was there. I sighed in relief and walked into the kitchen, grabbed two plates, two pairs of cutlery, two glasses, and some syrup and milk, and set it all on the table.  
Donnie came into the kitchen just as I was done setting the table, dressed in a dark green hoodie that he currently had unzipped, a grey-blue t-shirt with a blue electron on it and the word 'Bazinga!' written in yellow, and a pair of jeans. His shoulder-long hair was tied into his usual ponytail and he had a small, unsure smile on his face.

"Hey. Is anyone home today?" I shook my head and handed him a plate with two waffles.

"Nah, we're alone. And that's a good thing, too; I don't think I could face Mom or Dad today. Yesterday was just too much for me, I don't want anything to do with them right now." Donnie took the plate and looked at me with compassion. He set the plate down, walked up to me and wrapped his arms around my chest.

"Don't think about yesterday anymore, then. Today is today, and yesterday is in the past. Focus on today, and focus on the good things instead of the bad things. Like your friends, Spike, or the fun things we can do after school today. And you've still got me. That's gotta be something good, right?" I looked down at him and I smiled, placing my arm around his back.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. All I know is that I'm thankful to have you around. I don't know what I would do if I didn't have you, bro." He smiled wider at me, hugged me tighter and buried his face into my chest. I rested my cheek on his head. I thought over what he had said, '_think about the fun things we can do after school today_'. And it gave me an idea.

"You know, I think we both need to do something fun." I placed my hands on his shoulders, pulled him away from me and looked him in the eyes. "How about this? After school tomorrow we both go and watch that new Jurassic Park movie and then go and get some pizza for dinner afterwards. How does that sound?" Donnie smiled at me and nodded.

"That sounds great. As long as you pay for the tickets for the movie." He said it with a teasing spark, like he always did when he either pulled a prank on me or wanted something from me. I rolled my eyes and smacked him across the head, but with a small smile on my face.

"Only if _you_ pay for the pizza, bro." Donnie laughed, sat down at the table, poured some syrup over his waffles and started to eat his breakfast.

"Hehe, deal!" I sat down beside him and grabbed some food for myself, poured syrup over it and started to eat it. We ate without talking that much, which was kind of how we liked it. We usually didn't like to talk while we ate, or much at all. We liked to just sit and hang out without talking that much. Sure, we talked both with each other and others, but we weren't big talkers. And most of our classmates knew that, meaning not many people liked to talk to us, because they thought we didn't _want_ to talk to them. But neither Donnie nor I were very social so we were okay with it. One of the few things we had in common. And there wasn't much.

Donnie stood up from the table, placed the plate in the dishwasher along with his milk glass and his cutlery, and then walked towards the bathroom to brush his teeth. I put my own dishes into the dishwasher, grabbed some lettuce from the refrigerator and walked back to my room. Spike had woken up and looked up at me with curious eyes. I smiled down at him and placed the lettuce beside his food bowl. When Spike looked up at me, I smiled and stroked my finger over his head, which he seemed to enjoy.

"Hope you'll enjoy your breakfast, Spike." I whispered before I left my room and walked down towards the bathroom, where saw Donnie, talking on the phone. He waved slightly at me, but it was clear he wasn't paying attention to me right now.

"Yeah, I'm sorry I didn't answer last night, we had a bit of a..." He thought for a second and then kept talking, "... family problem. I forgot about your call." I walked past him and into the bathroom to brush my teeth, but I could still hear his voice and I couldn't help myself. I strained my ears and tried to focus on Donnie's voice so I could hear what he said.

"Well, I guess we could do that. I don't think Mom and Dad are coming home tonight, and we don't have anything planned for today, so I don't see why we can't. Hang on a second." Donnie came running back to the bathroom and I hurried to put the toothbrush in my mouth and look in the mirror so it would look like I hadn't been listening to his conversation. Donnie peeked in through the door and looked at me.

"Raph, Mikey called me and he and Leo were wondering if we wanna come over to their house after school, since we didn't decide anything about this weekend. What do you think?" Oh, right... I had totally forgotten about that! Everything that had happened last night had been so overwhelming and hard to swallow that Donnie and I went to bed extra early, and I had forgotten about what he had planned. I thought it over; Leo and Mikey were still kind of new people, but I thought that we should be able to get along. Leo and I were pretty different, but still, he was a cool guy. And Mikey might be able to help Donnie become a bit more confident and outgoing. I looked at Donnie and pulled the toothbrush out of my mouth.

"What do you think? Do you wanna go and hang out with them? It's not just about me, right?" Donnie nodded, his hand over the mouthpiece on his phone; I realized that I should hurry it up a bit so Mikey wouldn't get impatient.

"Okay, then; we need to get out of the house anyway, so I don't see why not." Donnie nodded and brought the phone back to his ear.

"Mikey? Yeah, Raph said he wants to come, so maybe we can meet outside of the school?" Donnie's voice got faint as he walked into his room and closed the door behind him. I turned back to the mirror and put the toothbrush back in my mouth, starting to brush again. After I was done I ran back to my room and grabbed my bag and ran to the door. Donnie already stood there with his duffle bag over his shoulder, waiting for me. I pulled on my sneakers, opened the door, and we both walked over to the elevator. Once we came down to the garage and got over to the bike, I felt a vibration in my pocket and when I fished out my phone I saw that I had gotten a text message from Leo.

"Hey, Raph. Are you okay? You didn't answer any of my calls last night." I looked at the time and realized that I didn't have to time to respond. We had to get to school now, or I'd be late for my first class. Donnie already sat down on my bike with his helmet on, so I just typed in a quick response, '_I'll tell you at school_', and then sat down in front of Donnie, started the engine, and drove off down the street.

I hurried down the hallway and looked down at my phone to see how much time I had left. Three minutes; okay, that's good. I didn't have to hurry that much. I got to the classroom with two minutes to spare and sat down at my seat beside Leo just in time before the lesson was about to start. Our algebra teacher, Mrs. Andersen, turned to look at us, picked up a paper and a pen and started the roll call. She had grey hair tied into a bun, wrinkles in her face, a pair of glasses perched on her nose, and was dressed in a brown stitched skirt, a tight white blouse and a pair of brown shoes with small heels. She looked like one of those stereotypical teachers in old school movies.

"Raphael Saki?" I snapped out of my thoughts and realized I had been staring at her for a while now, and I quickly looked away for a second before I looked back at her again. She looked at me with stern eyes, a raised eyebrow and her dark red lips pressed into a thin line.

"Uh, y-yeah, I'm here." I muttered and then looked away from her again. Leo looked at me with a raised eyebrow and leaned over the space between our seats and whispered at me as loudly as he dared; loud enough so I could hear him but also incredibly quiet so that Mrs. Andersen wouldn't overhear.

"Are you okay, Raph? You seem a little out of it today." I leaned closer to him and eyed the teacher, saw that she was writing on the whiteboard and then whispered back.

"Nah, I'm okay. Just a bit tired. I guess I'm not entirely awake yet. I've never been a morning person." Leo nodded and was about to answer, but was interrupted when Mrs. Andersen saw that we weren't paying attention.

"Hamato! Saki! Pay attention to the lesson or I will send you to the principal's office!" Leo and I moved away from each other and looked at the whiteboard until she turned back to the equation she was explaining how to solve. I turned back to Leo and mouthed to him, 'I'll tell you more at lunch', and Leo nodded before he turned back to his notebook and started to write down the equations and notes on the board. I opened my own notebook and picked up a pen, but instead of writing down notes I just started to doodle to make it look like I was being productive. Donnie was better at explaining algebra to me than my teacher, which probably wasn't very good for the teacher if a kid in middle-schooler can explain their subject better than him or her.

When the lunch bell finally rang, Leo and I hurried out of our classroom and walked down the hallway towards the cafeteria along with a lot of other students that hurried to get to the lunchroom so they could get a good place in the lunch line. Leo and I didn't hurry, though; we just walked and talked.

"So, Mikey said that you had a bit of a family problem last night. Now, I don't mean to snoop around in things that aren't my business, I just wanna know if you're okay." I looked at him and thought over whether I should tell him. I hadn't known Leo for that long and I didn't really want to pour out my personal life to this guy. Not yet, anyway, so I decided to play that card.

"I don't really wanna talk about it. I just had a really bad day yesterday and I had a bit of a disagreement with my father last night that pushed me over the edge. I didn't feel like talking with anyone." It was more of a lie than the truth, but like I said, I didn't want to give away my problems to Leo yet. He just nodded and looked down at the floor. When he looked up at me with a small smile.

"Do you or Donnie have any allergies?" I was a bit surprised at the random question and raised an eyebrow at him. Why did he want to know that? I looked at him with questioning eyes, not really knowing what to think.

"No, not really. I mean, Donnie's a _little_ sensitive to peanuts, but the doctors don't really call it an allergy, so I would have to say no." Leo nodded and placed his hands in his pockets.

"Okay, good. It's just that Mikey said you were coming over after school today and I guess he forgot to tell you that we have pets. I just thought I should ask if you were allergic to fur, you know, as a heads up." I nodded. Yeah, that made sense.

Wait a minute, pets? What kind of pets? I liked animals, but I knew some people had rats, bunnies, birds or even _roaches_ as pets! And I wasn't very fond of any of those animals. But then again, Leo said that they had fur, so roaches and birds were probably not it. Besides, neither Leo nor Mikey seemed like those kind of people who liked bugs.

"What kind of pets? Bunnies or rats or something?" Leo chuckled and shook his head. He placed his hand over his mouth to stifle his laugh and brushed some hair out his face.

"No, no. Mikey and I have a one pet each. Mikey has a cat named Klunk-." I interrupted him before he could finish, raising my hand to show that he should stop for a second.

"Wait, Klunk? Isn't the sound of when you bang your head against a metal pipe? 'Klunk'?" Leo shrugged and smiled lightly.

"Yeah, I know, it's a little weird, but Mikey's always been a little unique. He usually goes for strange or more interesting things rather than the norm. Anyway, he has his cat and I have Venus, my dog." He has both a dog and a cat? How'd they make that work out without the dog biting the cat's head off?

"Both a cat and a dog? How do you keep them from killing each other?" Leo dug his phone out of his pocket and after a minute of tapping on the screen he showed me a picture of a ginger kitty with a white stomach, chest, and nose lying close to a big German shepherd. The cat was sleeping close to the dog's chest and the dog seemed to have no problem with it.

"Mikey got Klunk when he turned 10 a few months back, so he's just a kitten. And Venus is pretty okay with him. She was a little cautious and slightly aggressive the first week, but after a while she accepted him and she's acting kinda like a mother to Klunk. So they're getting along pretty well." Leo put his phone back in his pocket and I nodded. I had heard of cats and dogs that could get along, so I guess it wasn't that strange compared to other scenarios.

"Cool. Now come on! Let's go and eat, I'm starving!" Leo nodded and we walked into the cafeteria.

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(Donnie's P.O.V)

Mikey and I both sat outside of the school, waiting for Leo and Raph to come so we could go to Mikey and Leo's house. Mikey had been all over me and asked me about what happened yesterday, and after a while I grew tired of his nagging, so I told him that Raph and I had gotten into a huge fight with our father and that he took away our phones so we couldn't text or call anyone as a punishment. He seemed to buy that answer and had backed off. Right now we were both talking about likes and dislikes so we could get to know each other a little better. So far I had learned that Mikey's favorite color was orange and that he loved skateboarding, drawing, watching TV, and martial arts. I had told Mikey that I liked purple and enjoyed reading, tinkering with things to learn how they worked, and being with my brother.

"So all you do is studying? Don't you know how to have fun, cut loose, or anything?" I frowned at him and crossed my arms over my chest.

"Hey, I have fun! I like to read and I like to learn new things! And Raph and I do fun things, like we went to Coney Island this summer, twice! And we're going to see the new Jurassic World movie tomorrow after school! So I can have fun, in my own way and along with others." Mikey nodded slyly with a raised eyebrow and folded arms.

"Yeah, as long as you're with Raph, right? Don't you ever go out with any friends to have fun?" I looked down at my feet and held back a sigh. I was pretty bad at making friends, mostly because I was quiet, shy, nerdy, and had a father with a lot of fame and money which made people think I was a spoiled, ungrateful brat. I wasn't very social, but I still felt lonely every day April wasn't in school, because- except for her- I didn't have any friends. I talked a little with a few of the kids in my class, but none of them were really my friends. And Casey, well, he pretty much bullied me almost every day. I looked up at Mikey and shrugged.

"I- I don't have that many friends except for April." I said and tried to sound like it was something I was cool with and that I had said more than once, but it was pretty hard to pull off; I had to control my voice so it wouldn't crack and give away my emotions. Mikey looked at me with pity and placed his hand on my shoulder.

"That's tough, dude, but I'm your friend, right? You and I can do things together! I could teach you how to have fun, how to skateboard or how to be a ninja!" He jumped up from the bench we were sitting on and stood up in a crane position. I chuckled at him and adjusted the strap of my bag over my shoulder.

"Sure, and maybe I could help you a bit with your homework if you want. You said before that school wasn't really your thing, so maybe I could be your tutor." Mikey smiled at me and sat back down again. The sound of a motorcycle was heard and I turned to look down the street and saw Leo and Raph coming up the street, with Raph driving slower than usual so Leo could keep up. I smiled at the scene, 'cause Raph hated to go slow.

Mikey and I stood and walked up to them both, and Leo barely had time to react before Mikey threw himself around his neck and hugged him. He staggered a little and placed his arms around his younger brother. I smiled at them both and placed myself next to Raph, but I decided not to hug him. I didn't want to embarrass him in public. He smiled at me and slung his arm around my shoulders.

"Hey, bro. How was school?" I smiled and brushed my bangs out of my face.

"Well, I can't really complain. I've had a good day today. What about you?" He shrugged and removed his arm. Leo had finally gotten free from Mikey's grip, patted his head and turned to us.

"Ready to go?" I nodded and threw my bag over my shoulder. Raph got off his motorcycle and gripped the motorcycle handles. I turned to Leo.

"Is it far from here?" Leo pointed up the street and slightly to the right.

"It's about five minutes up the street. Not very long." I nodded and we started to walk, with Raph leading his motorcycle instead of riding it; so he could spare the fuel, he said. Mikey didn't walk; he skated on his skateboard, sometimes in front of us and sometimes beside us. Leo told me that Mikey always had lots of energy, and it was pretty much useless to try and keep up with him all the time. I turned to Raph, walked closer up to him and leaned closer to his ear so Mikey and Leo wouldn't hear.

"Raph, do you know if Mom and Dad are coming home tonight? What if they come home and see that we're not there? Then what?" Raph, who had placed his helmet in his bag, leaned closer to my mouth when he heard me whisper into his ear. He turned his mouth to my ear and whispered back.

"Don't worry, Donnie. The chance that they'll come home early tonight is pretty slim. And if they do, I'll say that we went to the library to study or something. You don't have to worry about anything, I'll handle it." I groaned inwardly and stepped away from Raph. 'Oh, Raph, _why_ do you never let me help you? You don't _have_ to take care of everything on your own. You handled a lot of things on your own when you were my age, so why can't I?' I thought to myself, adjusting the strap over my shoulder as we kept going.

We soon arrived at a medium sized, white two-story bungalow with brick facade on one of the walls, green painted shutters, bushes and a few trees placed around the walls, a green lawn, a rather big doghouse placed next to the door and a white picket fence around the entire lawn. It looked like one of those houses out of a family sitcom. Leo walked up to the gate, opened it and let us go through before he walked through it himself and closed it after him. He then placed two fingers in his mouth and wolf-whistled loudly.

"Venus! Come here, girl!" At first I didn't hear anything, but after a few seconds I heard something come running from behind the house. Out of the bushes came a big, longhaired German shepherd with its tongue hanging out of its mouth and a wagging tail. The big dog ran up to Leo, jumped up and down on him and tried to lick him in the face. Leo kneeled down on the grass and tried to push the big dog away from himself.

"Mmph, nice to see you too, girl! Okay, okay, okay! That's enough Venus, down." The dog, apparently named Venus, finally calmed down and sat on the lawn. Mikey patted her between the ears and Venus licked his wrist and wagged her tail happily. Then she looked at Raph and I, showed her teeth and growled slightly at us. Leo placed one of his hands between her ears and the other on her chest.

"It's okay Venus, they're friends. Calm down, girl." I slowly took a few steps forward and carefully reached out my hand towards the big dog's nose. She growled again. I jerked my hand away from her and I felt Raph place his hands on my shoulders, ready to pull me away from the dog. Leo pulled slightly on the collar and smiled at me.

"It's okay Donnie, she won't bite. She never bites, she's only cautious. She usually reacts like this to strangers, but she's really nice. Just let her sniff your hand and that's as much as she does, I promise." I slowly and hesitantly reached out my hand a second time towards Venus and stopped a few inches away from her nose. She growled at first, and then sniffed my hand before she licked it. Slowly I placed my hand on her back to stroke her brown and black fur, and this time she didn't growl but instead she started to wag her tail again. Raph sat down beside her and started to pat Venus over the chest.

"So this is Venus, huh?" Leo nodded and let go of her collar. Mikey sat down beside me and placed his hand on my shoulder with a small, apologetic smile.

"Sorry I didn't tell you about Venus, she's slightly cautious about new people, but she's a nice dog. Really." Leo placed his hand on Mikey's shoulder and smiled at him.

"Yeah, I had thought you would have. But that's okay, she didn't attack anyone." He looked up at us again. "I adopted Venus when I was ten, and she was just a puppy back then. She had been abused by her former owner and slightly injured by him too. That's why she's missing part of her ear." I looked at her right ear and saw that about half of it was missing and it looked like it had been _ripped_ off, like when you tore a bit of paper from a bigger piece. I shuddered and removed my hands from her fur.

"So she's a little edgy, but not aggressive. She barks worse than she bites. She's really smart, strong, and a great watchdog." Leo ruffled the fur on her back and stood up again. "Now, come on. Let's go inside." We all stood up and walked inside the house with Venus running in between our legs, pushing her nose into our hands and staying close to Leo. Mikey took off his shoes, got down on his knees and clicked with his tongue.

"Klunky! Klunk, come here, kitty!" A few seconds later I Raph and I heard a soft pattering coming down the stairs and I saw a small ginger cat with a white stomach, chest, paws and nose, and blue eyes. The cat ran up to Mikey, who picked him up and stroke him. I walked up to Mikey and gently stroked the cat over the head. And he didn't seem to mind, as he started to purr and pushed his head into my hand to tell me that he wanted to be patted some more. I wasn't about to complain.

"Boys? Are you home?" A tall man walked into the hall and smiled at Mikey and Leo. He was, like I said, tall, had dark hair and brown eyes, dressed in a robe that looked like it came from Japan or at least Asia, and he looked like a nice person. I assumed that he was Leo and Mikey's dad. Raph straightened up a little and lost the smile he had on his face a second earlier.

"Mr. Hamato?" The man, who seemed to be named Hamato, smiled at Raph and placed his hand on his shoulder. He had kind eyes, and his smile was very reassuring, even though it wasn't directed at me.

"You do not have to be so formal with me out of the school, Raphael. When I am home, I am not your principal, just your friend's father. You can call me Master Splinter." Raph nodded slowly and smiled back, but not as warmly as Master Splinter. I frowned in confusion and looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Excuse me, sir, but why 'Splinter'?" He turned to me, slightly surprised. But nonetheless, he smiled at me, placed his hand on my shoulder and looked me in the eyes.

"Well, when I lived in Japan and trained in the art of ninjutsu, I was known to be the first in my class to be able to splinter wooden planks in two. So they gave me the nickname Splinter." I nodded and smiled at him.

"You're from Japan? That's cool, our father is, too." That slipped out of my mouth before I could think it over and not say it. Raph looked me with a mixture of panic and anger and motioned his hand over his throat to tell me to shut up. Master Splinter looked down at me with his warm smile.

"Oh, really? What a coincidence; he wouldn't happen to be Oroku Saki, would he?" Both Raph and I looked at each other and I could see that Raph was just as surprised as I was. Sure, Raph and I had heard questions from people around us if Oroku Saki was our father since he was a famous entrepreneur and self-employed, but still. People usually didn't ask it like it was a normal question or like they knew him personally. Raph looked at up at Splinter.

"You know him?" Splinter nodded, removed his hand from my shoulder and placed both arms behind his back. But I saw that his smile became a little forced. Like he was trying to act like everything was normal, while actually trying to hide his true emotions. Something I recognized a bit.

"Yes. He and I studied ninjutsu together and we were close friends when I was your age." An awkward silence followed for the next couple of seconds, but then Splinter put his smile back on and looked over to Leo.

"It is a good thing that you arrived just now, I have just warmed up the tea water. Would you boys want some?" I knew Raph wasn't much of a tea drinker, but he could drink it and even enjoy it if he wanted to. We all said yes and Leo and Mikey lead us out into the kitchen.

It wasn't a very big room, but the dining room was just next-door, so it was clear that they didn't need that much space in here. Leo walked over to a cupboard, took out a big plastic bag, placed it on the counter and took a measuring cup out of a kitchen drawer. Venus seemed to know what he was doing and started to run around him, wagging her tail in excitement. Leo smiled down at her.

"Calm down, Venus, I'm almost done." He poured two full scoops of dog food into a big metal bowl and then turned to Venus, who looked up at him expectantly and wagged her tail. Leo looked at her sternly.

"Venus, sit. Sit, girl." Venus immediately sat down, but wagged her tail. "Stay." Leo held up his hand and slowly moved to a plastic mat at the other end of the room. Venus stayed in the same position, like this was a normal thing, even when Leo put the bowl down beside a smaller, yellow, ceramic bowl less than half-filled with cat food. He moved away from the bowl and looked Venus in the eyes.

"Okay, Venus, go ahead!" Immediately Venus stood up, ran over to the bowl and started to eat. Leo playfully ruffled her fur and moved back to us. While he had fed Venus, Splinter had prepared the tea and had placed five green, ceramic cups without a handle and decorated with bamboo sticks.

"Leonardo, Michelangelo, why don't you show our guests the house? The tea will be done in a few minutes." Leo nodded and gestured to the door.

"Come on, we'll show you around." Mikey had grabbed a bag with cat food out of the same cupboard that Leo had gotten the dog food. He waved at us to go on.

"You guys go ahead, I'm just gonna feed Klunk." With that, Leo, Raph and I moved out of the kitchen and Leo led us up the stairs. He showed us the bathroom, in case we needed to go, and the bedrooms, which were the only rooms upstairs. Leo's room was the biggest, had navy blue wallpaper with stars, planets and spaceships, a twin xl bed, a dark wooden desk with a laptop, a few notebooks and some other school related things, a bureau and a bookshelf. Very simple and not that big either. Mikey's room was mostly orange, had clothes and personal belongings all over the floor. He had shelves filled with action figures, comic books on his desk and a laptop somewhere under the comics.

When we came back downstairs, Mikey came running up to us and put his arm around my shoulders. He smiled widely at me and it was hard not to smile back at him.

"Hey! Did Leo show you our rooms? Wasn't my room awesome? I bet you don't have a room that awesome, huh?" I didn't really want to say that I cringed at the mess in his room, so I smiled awkwardly and nodded stiffly.

"Yeah, you're right. I do not have a room quite like yours." Mikey nodded and pulled away from me. Leo led us into the living room where Splinter had prepared the tea and some chocolate cake with whipped cream. Leo looked confused, walked up to his father and looked up at him.

"Dad? What's with the cake? Did you bake it or what?" Splinter shook his head with a chuckle and patted Leo on the shoulder.

"No, my son. I bought it today before I came home, since I knew you would have friends over. I wanted to have something to offer to our guests. I hope you'll enjoy it." He left the room before Leo or Mikey could say anything to him. Leo blushed madly and looked down at the floor.

"Ugh, why couldn't he have said anything? This is something you do when you're in third grade, not when you're in high school." Mikey walked up to him and shoved him playfully.

"Hey, don't complain alright? He bought us a cake and he's leaving us alone, right? Let's just eat, drink, talk and enjoy, okay?" Leo took a deep breath and nodded. Raph and I walked up to them and we sat down at the coffee table and Leo poured up some tea in every cup. Mikey sliced up some cake and started to eat. Raph sipped on his tea and smirked at Leo, who still looked a little embarrassed.

"What's the matter, Fearless? Having trouble getting along with your daddy?" I fought the urge to call Raph a hypocrite, since he also had big problems getting along with our dad, but I decided not to bring it up since I knew that would only cause the others to ask questions. Questions I didn't want to answer. Leo shook his head and took a bite out of his slice of cake.

"No, not really. We're very close, and I usually spend a lot of time with him. Especially in the dojo. He trains Mikey and I in the arts of ninjutsu. And I'm the most dedicated to those studies." I perked up when he said that he was taught ninjutsu and I immediately felt interested. Raph was a fighter through and through and could fight against bullies and could stand his ground against anyone since he was naturally built to be strong and had played in the football team back at his old school. I had always been weak, so I wanted to be able to fight back if I had to and not always have Raph come in to help me. Maybe martial arts lessons were a start.

"Does he teach other people too? Like, has lessons and teaches it to other people than you? I'm kind of interested in learning." Leo looked at me, smiled and was about to answer when Raph suddenly interrupted.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hold up, what did you say? No way, Donnie! You can't learn martial arts!" I looked at him with angry eyes and glared at him. Why did he always have to tell me what I can and can't do? That wasn't up to him!

"What! Why not? I have a pretty big allowance so I can pay the fee myself, I've played in my school's baseball team since I was seven so I'm athletic enough, so I don't see why I can't!" Raph glared back at me and put his teacup back down on the table again.

"You're too young to learn martial arts! You should wait a few-" I interrupted and shoved Raph as hard as I could, though it didn't help very much.

"I'm not too young! I'm eleven years old! Mikey's ten and he learns martial arts too! So why can't I?" Raph frowned down at me, raised his finger and opened his mouth, but before he could answer, Leo interrupted and tried to smile even though he probably felt awkward due to our arguing.

"He should be able to teach you, if you want. You'll have to talk to him and decide a time that works for you both and then maybe talk about a fee, and then you'll have to come here at that time and train for about two hours. Like, on Saturdays at 13:00." I smiled at the encouragement from Leo and stuck out my tongue at Raph. He frowned and shoved some cake into his mouth, and I guess he did it to stop himself from saying something bad. The silence that followed was, to say the least, awkward. I sipped down some tea and then started to feel a little warm, so I slowly pulled off my green hoodie and tied the arms around my waist. Leo looked up at me and then smiled at something he saw.

"Oh, you watch Big Bang Theory?" He asked and pointed at my t-shirt. I looked down at the yellow 'Bazinga' written on my chest and smiled up at Leo and shrugged lightly.

"I watch it every now and then. Mom got this for me because she thought I loved the show. But I like it, it's just not my favorite show." Leo nodded and swallowed down some more cake. Mikey looked at Raph's shirt and smiled excitedly and lifted his arms like a bodybuilder would do while showing off their muscles.

"Dude, you like Arnold Schwarzenegger? That guy is awesome, he's all like 'Come with me if you want to live'!" He exclaimed, saying the quote in a rather shaky Austrian accent. I chuckled lightly and Raph raised his eyebrow at Mikey in confusion. Then he shrugged lightly and tried to smile.

"I like some of them, like the first and second Terminator movies and Commando. I don't like all of them, but some of them. What, you like him?" Mikey nodded excitedly and flew up from his chair and started to strike a few bodybuilding poses, trying to look cool.

"Oh yeah! Once I get to the high school you and Leo go to, I'll start in the bodybuilding team and become pumped up, just like Arnold!" Leo frowned in confusion, raised his finger and looked up at Mikey.

"Uh, Mikey? There's no high school that has a bodybuilding team." Mikey looked at Leo in surprise and then crossed his arms in disappointment and sat down on his chair again.

"Dude, can't you just let a guy dream?" Leo chuckled and patted his brother on the head. He then turned to Raph, who was just sipping some of his tea.

"Have you planned to join any school clubs? We have quite a few at RHS." Raph put the cup down on the table and hummed in thought. I knew what he was going to say. That he hadn't thought of it that much, and that he probably wouldn't, since now I couldn't go to his school and wait for him at the football field while he played football. But I knew he loved playing football, and would love to keep doing it. Raph bit his lip.

"Well... I don't really..." Before Raph could answer properly, I interfered with the conversation. I shoved him playfully, and gained his attention.

"You know, Raph? I think that might be good for you!" Raph raised an eyebrow at me.

"Don?" I shrugged and crossed my arms over my chest. I know Raph could be stubborn, but so could I, and I wasn't the one to give up easily.

"Raph, you said it yourself. We do nothing these days but stay home in the apartment. The tryouts for the clubs and sport teams in my school are coming up next week, so I'm going to play baseball this fall. What exactly are you going to do? Sit home and do homework? Come on, at least try?" Raph looked as though he was about to argue, but I gave him the 'little brother treatment', as I liked to call it. Mainly giving him my puppy dog eyes and a little pout. It almost never worked, but that didn't stop me from trying. And Raph sighed heavily and turned back to Leo.

"Alright, fine! What kind of clubs do you have at RHS?" Leo smiled and started to count up few of the clubs.

"Well there's the School Paper and the Year Book." Raph sneered in disgust and shook his head. "The Theatre and the chess club." Raph stuck out his tongue and said 'blech'. "And the debate club." Raph tilted his head from side to side and shrugged lightly. He seemed to consider it, but wasn't completely hooked just yet.

"Possibly. But I don't know, how about sports teams? What kind of sports teams do you have?" Leo bit his lip and thought over the answer.

"Uh, I think we have a baseball team." Raph shook his head. And I have to admit; baseball wasn't exactly his kind of sport. "We have archery club too, and a hockey team." This time he didn't show complete disgust but he wasn't all that interested either. "And then of course there's the basketball and football team. I'm on the football team, so I'm going to play this fall. Well, what do you say?" Raph brightened up when he heard football and smiled.

"Well, why didn't you say that in the first place? If they've got football, I'm in!" Leo smiled and swallowed some tea.

"Great! Tryouts starts next week on Tuesday, so I'll see you there, then." Raph nodded and was about to say something when a sharp signal was heard from his pocket and he dug out his phone. After a few seconds he looked up at me and picked up his bag.

"Mom just texted me, she'll be home in an hour. We have to go now." I nodded and stood up. Leo and Mikey also stood up and followed us to the door. Leo gave Raph a piece of paper.

"Here's the date of the tryout and the time. Just in case. But I'm sure the school will give information about it too." Raph nodded and put the note in his pocket. I pulled out my phone and looked at the time, and was shocked to see that it was almost 17:00 now! We had been here longer than I thought. Venus came running out into the hall and darted from me to Raph, wagging her tail and trying to lick our hands, as if she was saying good-bye too. Leo called her over and she sat down beside him.

"Well, see ya in school tomorrow!" We waved them good-bye and left the house. Raph had parked his motorcycle just outside. I sat down on the seat behind Raph and put on my helmet.

"So, you plan on joining the football team?" He nodded and looked his shoulder at me.

"Sure! You know I love it!" Then it seemed like he thought of something, turned around as much as he could and placed his hand on my shoulder. "But what about when school ends? How are you gonna get home? I may not be able to pick you up every day." I just shrugged it off. Sometimes Raph seemed to think I couldn't think at all.

"I'll just take the bus home. It's only a ten minute ride from my school to home, so I'll be fine." Raph nodded and turned back around again to start the engine. I narrowed my eyes at him from behind and raised an eyebrow. "You _do_ trust me on a bus, don't you?" I muttered to myself.

"What was that?" Raph asked as he turned on the engine. I shook my head and wrapped my arms around his waist.

"Nothing. Nothing at all." Raph nodded, but didn't seem convinced. Regardless, he put on his own helmet and we drove off down the street.

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**A/N: There! Finally it's done! I'm so glad to have it done already! And yes, there are people who have roaches for pets! Disgusting, but it's true! I guess everybody's entitled to their own opinion! I hope I'll be able to keep updating this story, along with the other one I'm currently writing, but try not to push me, okay?**

**Hope you liked this chapter and please review, favorite and follow! G'night everybody!**


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